Reyna Carranco was struck by a 70-mile-per-hour fastball when the Arizona Wildcats played at Washington on March 23. The sophomore knew something was wrong when she saw blood falling off her face and heard a teammate tell her she had broken her nose.
But Carranco didn’t know how serious her injuries were until she saw her face while at the hospital.
See, Arizona’s sophomore infielder hadn’t felt any pain.
“It was more pressure. Pressure on my nose,” Carranco said. “I was more focused on that.”
Carranco was diagnosed with a concussion, broken nose and a fracture of her right cheekbone. The injury would have likely been even worse had Carranco not been wearing a facemask on her batting helmet. Taran Alvelo’s fastball stuck in the mask — and stayed there — after it hit Carranco’s face.
On March 29, Carranco underwent surgery to fix her nose. She rejoined her teammates the following day, and watched the Wildcats eventually sweep Cal.
“I’ve been really excited to come back,” Carranco said. “I loved cheering my team on the field, but I was like, ‘Oh, I have to be out there.’”
Carranco, finally, is back. She played in all three games at Oregon last weekend, and is expected to be in the starting lineup this weekend, when the 12th-ranked Wildcats face No. 4 UCLA at Hillenbrand Stadium. The series begins Friday night with a nationally televised game.
Carranco describes the injury as “just a freak accident.”
“Everything feels really good,” Carranco said. “I don’t have any pain. Nothing hurts anymore. Everything is back to normal, pretty much.”
The event was scary enough to give the Wildcats some pause. Coach Mike Candrea said he didn’t want to rush Carranco back, even after she passed her concussion test last week. Candrea allowed Carranco to travel with the team, but would not say whether he planned to play her at Oregon.
Carranco was medically cleared. Candrea wanted to make sure she’d be mentally ready.
“I asked her, ‘Reyna, are you ready? I’m not going to push it, but I want you to be the one to tell me you’re ready to play,’” Candrea said. “And she said, ‘I’m ready to play.’”
Candrea said he didn’t see any hesitation from Carranco in her first game back in action and, for the most part, Carranco said she didn’t either. Except maybe her first at-bat.
She went 1 for 4 in Game 1, and registered the Wildcats’ lone hit in Game 3. The Wildcats were swept by the second-ranked Ducks, but Candrea thought his No. 2 hitter played well.
The sophomore will wear a facemask while in the field for two more weeks while her nose continues to heal.
“It’s not the comfiest,” Carranco said. She’ll wear a helmet mask in the batter’s box for the rest of the season and career. The mask was mandatory growing up; Carranco’s made sure of it.
“Even when I got (to Arizona), he was like, ‘You better not take off your mask,’” Carranco said.
Arizona (27-9, 6-6) has struggled against Pac-12 foes on the road. UA was swept by both Washington and Oregon in away series, but have swept home series against Utah and Cal.
At home, however, the Wildcats are 16-1.
“I’m really anxious this weekend to get UCLA at home and see how we react now,” Candrea said.
“I think that will be the true test for me: see how they respond.”
