Softball – What a career: Gabby Bridges leaves intense legacy behind

Softball – What a career: Gabby Bridges leaves intense legacy behind

Joshua Parrott, Daily Advertiser, May 24, 2011

AUSTIN, Texas — The reality hit Gabby Bridges hard and with the force of a blistering fastball, a feeling that left UL’s powerful first baseman in tears.

Houston beat the 25th-ranked Ragin’ Cajuns, 4-1, on Sunday in the championship game of the NCAA Austin Regional. The loss not only eliminated the Cajuns from the postseason but also ended a storied collegiate career for Bridges, the team’s lone senior this season.

"There’s no way to express how I feel right now," said a red-eyed Bridges after Sunday’s loss. "It’s like a hole in your stomach."

Cajuns co-head coach Stefni Lotief felt a similar emptiness — and expressed similar emotions — knowing that Bridges had just walked off the field for the final time as a college player.

"She’s the epitome of the program," Lotief said. "She showed up every day to work and matured. She came here as a baby and leaves as a woman and one of the best softball players to wear our jersey."

Good luck arguing otherwise. Bridges, a four-year starter, was a beast on the diamond and a respected leader in the clubhouse.

Entering the postseason of her senior year she ranked in the top 10 nationally in six offensive categories. She hit the stitches off the ball this season with a .369 batting average, 22 home runs, 79 RBIs and an .879 slugging percentage. Her on-base percentage was .553 after drawing 61 walks and striking out only 22 times.

Bridges also set an NCAA single-season record with four grand slams and was a first-team all-region selection with potential All-America honors to come. Her confidence rubbed off on her teammates as the Cajuns set a school and Sun Belt record this season with 481 runs scored, the 10th-best total in the NCAA record books.

For her career Bridges tied for second all-time nationally with six grand slams and was 14th with 66 career home runs. She is third in school history in career homers and RBIs (223) and fourth in walks (139). She made 225 consecutive starts before suffering a sprained knee and high-ankle sprain in early April but missed only two games despite needing ongoing treatment for the rest of the season.

Those injuries were the only way to keep Bridges off the field, a sign of how much she loved and appreciated the game as well as her teammates, coaches and fans. It also showed how much she had grown up since playing a supporting role as a freshman in 2008 for a Women’s College World Series team.

"To the fan you define Gabby by her home run power or career grand slams or consecutive games played streak, which are signs of her tireless work ethic, toughness, consistency and fierce competitiveness," Cajuns co-head coach Michael Lotief said. "But her coaches and teammates know Gabby for her enthusiasm, love of the game, deep concern of others and contagious laughter or alligator tears.

"She gave her heart and soul, and we’re all better for it."

Both Bridges and her coaches admit that her journey included some struggles along the way. Coming out of high school she had a long swing, so the coaches worked with her to make it more compact and powerful.

The transition took time. As a freshman she logged 11 homers and 41 RBIs but hit .236 with 56 strikeouts and 26 walks. The hard work eventually paid off. Her numbers improved every year, culminating with a memorable senior season alongside teammate Christi Orgeron (23 homers and NCAA-leading 101 RBIs in 2011).

Orgeron paid Bridges the ultimate tribute earlier this season, saying it was a "blessing" and "honor" to be her teammate and watch her improvement. Her coaches felt equally blessed.

"Gabby’s maturation was fun to follow," Michael Lotief said. "As a freshman she despised failure but had episodes where her confidence waned and sometimes shied away from confrontation. As a senior she became fearless, unbreakable and a true warrior.

"She welcomed adversity, dealt with failures like a champion and became the voice and leader of this team."

Bridges’ presence went beyond individual numbers, too. The program’s success over the past four years proved that. The Cajuns won 193 games from 2008-11, winning the Sun Belt regular-season and conference tournament each season with one trip to the Women’s College World Series, two regional titles and one super regional championship during that stretch.

Her senior season ended sooner than she wanted. No doubt that hurts. But Bridges has no regrets — and she shouldn’t.

"I couldn’t ask for anything else from this team," Bridges said. "I appreciate everything that my coaches have done for me. I would’ve liked to have gone to the (College) World Series my senior year, but everything happens for a reason. I know these girls are going to come back so much stronger from it next year. I’m grateful for what I was able to experience here."

So is Michael Lotief.

"If a career is measured in wins and losses, she had a great career," he said. "If it is measured by individual accolades, ditto. But if the true measure is working hard day by day to be the best, giving your all every day and every pitch and making a difference in the lives around you then she is and will continue to be a true champion."

And that’s a reality no one can ignore