Softball – All grown up: UL freshman shortstop Myers playing with confidence

Brady Aymond • baymond@theadvertiser.com • May 27, 2010

Thursday morning, the college freshman was packing her bags for sunny California as she and her UL Ragin’ Cajun teammates are headed to Los Angeles to take on UCLA in the College Softball Super Regionals.

Myers has been an integral part of the Cajuns’ success this year — starting 58 games at shortstop, and getting the game-winning hit against LSU in the Baton Rouge Regional this past weekend.

Not bad for a girl who grew up playing slowpitch softball and didn’t start playing fastpitch until her eighth-grade year.

"To be honest, I think slow-pitch helped," said Myers, who was an All-State selection in both fastpitch and slowpitch at Petal High School. "Statistically, the years I didn’t play slowpitch in high school, I think my averages in categories went down.

"I think it helps tremendously defensively. The field is a lot bigger, therefore you cover more territory. The bases are longer. So it helps a lot."

The transition to college softball wasn’t the smoothest for Myers. She struggled with both hitting and fielding in the early part of the season.

But with 2009 shortstop Codi Runyan lost to graduation, the job was basically Myers’ to lose.

"Nobody wants to fail, so when you see you have seniors and juniors around you that know what’s going on and they’ve been to that level, you put pressure on yourself," Myers said. "No one put it on me, I put it on myself."

Eventually, Myers’ comfort caught up to her athleticism. And what has followed has been nothing short of spectacular.

"It’s all the nuances of the college softball game," UL co-head coach Michael Lotief said. "There’s all these little things that you have to think about and when you start thinking about it too much, you forget to just let your natural ability guide you.

"Once you get to where you’re comfortable and not thinking on every single pitch, you let go and let your ability take over. And we’ve all seen what Nerissa can do athletically."

Myers can’t pinpoint exactly when that moment took place, but she knows it happened. And it showed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament when she made two highlight-reel plays, including a diving catch on a fly ball behind the third-base bag.

She followed that up with a solid regional tournament, where she was selected to the All-Baton Rouge Regional team.

"I’m not even sure at what point it clicked, but eventually it did click, thank God," Myers said. "My teammates had a lot to do with that. They helped me to get comfortable, especially since it was my first time being surrounded by this group of girls that had been to this level.

"I’m just going to jump in to that mix and it was a little overwhelming at times. But they helped me to develop the confidence that I have now."

While Myers was developing confidence in the field, she was developing into a slapper at the plate. After struggling with strikeouts, Myers slowly made the transition from straight hitting to slapping.

Since she had never slapped in high school, the adjustment was rough at first. But she’s started to find her groove and the freshman has raised her batting average to .293 heading into this weekend’s three-game series at UCLA.

"Honestly, it wasn’t what I would consider my optimal situation when it first happened," Myers said. "But you do what it takes to help the team and I’ve grown to like it. It puts so much pressure on the defense when you have the speed we have with our four slappers."

Myers also had someone to lean on when times were tough — her cousin Brianna Cherry. Myers and Cherry grew up next door to each other and knew they wanted to continue playing college softball together.

When the opportunity came at UL, the duo jumped at the offer.

"It’s a top-notch program," Myers said. "Who wouldn’t want to come and play for a school that’s been to the World Series and knows what it’s about?

"If we would have had needed to go to two different schools, we would have done it. But I think we always kind of had the idea that we’d be together and it just worked out for us."

And it’s worked out for the Cajuns, who are only two wins away from advancing to the school’s sixth College World Series appearance.

"All it took was watching her play one time and we were sold," Lotief said. "All you have to do is watch her and you know she can play on the highest level.

"A lot of schools missed out on her and I’m glad they did. I think we’re witnessing the beginning of something very special."