Izzy Pacho, ever the optimist, was wearing shorts and an unzipped parka ahead of Tuesday’s practice.
The Tucson native rolls with whatever is in front of her — even if it’s an unexpected hailstorm.
Right now, Arizona’s own stormy weather includes an unprecedented 0-6 start to the Pac-12 season and a prolonged team-wide hitting slump. Pacho and the No. 19-ranked Wildcats (19-10, 0-6) will face No. 11 Washington (20-10, 1-5) this weekend with hopes of turning things around.
“The way I push through is you have to take the positives from it — that’s why I love this game is it teaches you life lessons on the field and off the field,” Pacho said. “Although we don’t look great right now, we’re going to push through it and there’s positives to take, whether it’s a good at-bat, a good play that’s made, our pitchers are commanding the zone, whatever it is, there’s always positives to come from it. That’s how I want to persevere through it is let’s build off of those little things and let that carry us into the rest of the Pac and the rest of the season.”
Momentum can start with one good swing.
Pacho is providing a lot of bright spots these days. She is hitting .395, has found a home at third base and has only two fielding errors.
It took Pacho a while to get regular playing time after starting her career as a backup catcher, infielder and designated player.
Now, she’s taking on a leadership role. Following Saturday’s 11-0 loss to ASU, the Wildcats gathered in the outfield for a team meeting. A lot was said — especially by veterans like Pacho — about going back to the basics, doing the little things the Arizona way and reclaiming their passion for the game.
“Why do we play this game? We’re here for a reason. We continue to play this game because the little girl inside of us loves this game and loves to compete and hates to lose,” Pacho said. “It was just more of a reminder of ‘hey, don’t give up on us. Don’t give up on our team. Let’s stick together and find that passion that that we all have inside of us, and we show all the time,’ but I think we kind of lose sight of it sometimes.”
Arizona coach Caitlin Lowe won plenty of games during her playing career, but she’s no stranger to slumps, either. Lowe remembers another tough loss to ASU a long time ago; when the Wildcats returned to the team hotel, “everyone stayed on the bus,” she said.
“It was like, ‘We are going to figure this out,’” Lowe said. “And you know what? It was the greatest thing we ever did, and it was the first time you got to hear a lot of people care because I think that’s what you know kind of slips away sometimes.
“You don’t see on the outside how much people care and that’s what I get to see when people come to my office on a Monday and Tuesday. It’s because they care — worse than they want to breathe. They just care so bad and it’s a matter of what we do that and how we handle that. Can we care collectively as a group? Can we channel that as a group instead of trying to do it on our own Islands, which I think is what we’re doing right now. Everybody’s heads in the right place, their hearts in the right place, and we’re trying to fight these battles together.”
None of this happens overnight. After Saturday’s talk, UA didn’t get anyone on base in a five-inning perfect game by ASU’s Marissa Schuld, a former Wildcat.
First-year head coach Caitlin Lowe, right, says the Wildcats are “putting hay in the barn every day, and it’s meaning something.”
“I’m looking for them to take their control back,” Lowe said. “Take control of their at-bats, take control of their confidence when they walk up, take control of their energy, all of those things. Not really waiting until they feel good. Just, ‘Today’s the day I’m gonna take my control back.’”
Lowe is hopeful that what she has seen from her team over the last few days will help them chip away and get back on track.
“What I’m seeing is everybody wants, is motivated to make a change. When you come out there with fire and use those losses as motivation. ‘Now I start to swing a different way, carrying yourself a different way.’ And I think that’s the biggest thing. …
“We’re putting hay in the barn every day, and it’s meaning something. It’s just getting to that point where we can let ourselves play. Every team goes through this hard time, and it’s going to make or break you. I think right now it’s building us into better, stronger teammates. And now we just have to have the right mindset when we step on the field and be able to channel it.”
