Wildcats keep postseason 'tradition' alive; Allie Skaggs plays with heavy heart

As the Arizona Wildcats waited to hear their name called on Selection Sunday, a wide range of emotions played through their heads.

Second baseman Allie Skaggs said she was “antsy” as the show began to air on ESPN2. Center fielder Janelle Meono described herself as “anxious.” Those emotions grew as team after team was announced.

The team, gathered in the home of coach Caitlin Lowe, was firmly on the tournament bubble. Making the posteason mattered: Arizona had been to 34 playoffs in a row.

At long last, after 14 of the 16 regional spots had been announced, the Wildcats saw their name in the regional in Columbia, Missouri; the anxiety immediately turned to excitement.

The Wildcats will take on Illinois at 1:30 p.m. Friday in a bracket that also includes No. 15 Missouri and Missouri State. The winner of the double-elimination tournament will advance to the Super Regionals.

“I wish everybody would have heard the cheers,” Lowe said. “It made my heart happy to know they had more games to play. They weren’t ready to be done yet.”

Making the NCAA Softball Tournament at Arizona is more than just a yearly goal, it’s the expectation.

“It’s tradition,” catcher Sharlize Palacios said. “That’s why we wanted to keep (the streak) going.”

A spot in the postseason was far from guaranteed this year for the Cats. After all, a 33-20 regular-season record and a tied-for-last-place 8-16 mark in the Pac-12 doesn’t exactly scream title contender.

Only once since 1986 had an Arizona team made the NCAA Tournament when its lost 20 or more regular season games and had a sub-.500 record in conference play.

Now it’s twice.

The Wildcats are relishing their chance at a fresh start.

They’ll enter the postseason 0-0, just like the other 63 NCAA Tournament teams. It’s a chance to play freely, unburdened by the hardships that it took to get to this point.

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“As soon as we saw our name,” Skaggs said, “we were pumped and ready to go.”

Skaggs deals with family loss

It’s been a difficult week for Skaggs, who found out just three days before her final home series of the year that her uncle Sheldon had died suddenly. He was one of Skaggs’ most passionate supporters, frequently coming out to Hillenbrand Stadium with an Arizona shirt on to watch Skaggs play.

“I love that guy; he was always one of my biggest fans,” Skaggs said. “It’s different without him here.”

The UA sophomore and Ironwood Ridge graduate took a day off last Tuesday to be with family and grieve.

“It was really hard, I hate it for my family,” Skaggs said.

When she returned the following day for practice, Lowe made sure to have a conversation with the second baseman and offer as much support as she could.

“Cait’s been very motherly to me, always checking in and making sure I’m good,” Skaggs said.

Skaggs is enjoying a breakout season at the plate. She finished the regular season tied for the most home runs in the Pac-12 with 22; her 56 RBIs are tied for third in the league.

Add instant replay to coaching firsts for Lowe

Last August, the NCAA passed a rule change to institute instant replay and challenges into softball games for the 2021-22 season — leaving it in the conference’s hands on when to implement it.

The Pac-12 was unable to move ahead with using instant replay during the season, but it will be in effect for every NCAA Tournament game this season. Its addition has been one more thing Lowe will have to navigate in her first postseason experience as a head coach.

“I spent an entire day this week learning about it,” Lowe said.