Jenny Dalton-Hill has watched a lot of softball over the years in her role as an ESPN analyst.
Her job requires her to focus on the Southeastern Conference. But as one of the best players in Arizona program history, Dalton-Hill has more than kept up with the Wildcats.
Her worlds will collide this weekend, when the 11th-seeded UA takes on No. 6 Arkansas in the Fayetteville Super Regional. The best-of-three series starts Friday at 4 p.m.
How will Dalton-Hill separate her heart from her job? It’s simple, said the 1996 National Player of the Year.
“When I’m not calling the game, I am a Wildcat fan,” she said. “When I am calling a game, I am celebrating the moments on the field — both sides, because you’re going to have highs on one side, lows on the other. When I call a game, I call attention to, ‘That could have been better by doing this, but that was amazing because of this.’ … I am not concerned with who’s doing the great thing. I’m calling attention to all the great things that are happening in the game.”
She admits there’s one person that’ll be hard to criticize: UA coach Mike Candrea.
“Coach is so full of class and does things the right way and teaches his players to do things the right way that I’ve never run into a situation where I’ve had to try to swallow my loyalty, if that makes sense,” she said. “ …The game decides who wins; not our hearts. My job as an analyst is to just simply explain why things are the way they are and not let my emotion get in the way. Now, if at the end of the game, if I see Coach break down, I will cry on air. There’s no way around it. The game is the game and it’s the thing I fell in love with. Coach Candrea is the one who taught me the most about it.”
The Star talked to Dalton-Hill on Wednesday about the UA-Arkansas matchup, how the emotions of the Wildcats’ “super seniors” play into the series and her feelings about her former coach. Here’s what she said:
Both teams are playing for so much: Arkansas to play in their first World Series, while Arizona’s ‘super seniors’ are trying to get back for their final games. How do you think this will play into this series?
A: “I think this one honestly is going to be a very emotional series. We’ve seen these ‘super seniors’ at Arizona evolve through this season. I know that the COVID pause has affected everyone, but these ‘super seniors’ had to put life on hold to come back into Tucson and play again. But more than that, they had a rough go in Florida that 10-day stretch (earlier in the season). Lots of losses, tons of doubt creeps in, and then you struggle emotionally and mentally to figure out how to be confident in the box and make good plays. But what you’ve seen is an evolution in the last probably two weeks of them starting to realize this is it as it starts to come down to a close, that really solidifies a group. Yes, you have a ton of ‘super seniors,’ but you see younger players. (Janelle) Meoño out there in left (field) who was Freshman of the Year in the Pac-12. You see those players starting to step up because they want to play for those ‘super seniors.’
“The ‘super seniors’ are playing for the ends of their career, and every single one of those players is playing for Coach Candrea knowing that his tenure at Arizona is coming to … not to a close, but coming to an end at some point, and so everybody wants Coach Candrea to end (at) the World Series, and the thing that stands in their way is the Razorbacks.
“Then you add in the emotion of that team who is on the rise. They’ve got a ton of emotion and positivity and confidence heading into this weekend. Courtney Deifel is not a coach that is intimidated by great teams. She plays in the SEC. She’s been beat down by teams in the SEC, and she’s built a program and a group of young women who are not intimidated by records or names, or the people in the other dugout. Because of that, that’s a very dangerous arena to step into because you don’t have an intimidation factor as you walk in, they don’t care who you are. They’re playing to put their name on the map and Arizona’s trying to put their name back where they know it belongs.”
Because of all of that, do you think this is the best Super Regional matchup?
A: “It has that potential, because Arkansas has had something to prove all year. They won the regular-season title in the SEC, then fell out in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Arizona has just been that team that has been so close for so long we know they went (to the WCWS) in 2019, but came up short. But the thing is, they don’t know what they don’t know. Both of their coaches know what happens in Oklahoma City, but these players don’t know and so it’s hard for a team of players who has never been there before to go into that arena and be super-successful. … And both of these teams are coming in, the coaches know what to expect but these players don’t, and so it’s going to be a big learning curve whoever advances out of this one. But this one I think will have the most emotion going into it.”
Do you think Arizona has a little edge as the ‘super seniors’ were in OKC two years ago?
A: “I think that gives them a little bit of an edge. However, it also gives the opportunity for pressing to set in. If they walk into Arkansas and start to push the result, or press to get a result, they’re going to struggle. That’s when errors happen. That’s when you swing outside of the strike zone and you strike out or you bloop a little pop fly. I mean you have to be so relaxed and let the extra stuff go away. And it’s all going to come down to: Can they play on the road? The Florida series was a big test for them and they have not found their groove when hitting on the road. That’s going to be the biggest test for them going into Arkansas is being able to be successful offensively when not at home.”
ESPN analyst Jenny Dalton-Hill won three Women's College World Series championships at Arizona, and was the 1996 National Player of the Year.
Who do you think is going to win this weekend?
A: “It’s literally going to come down to plate discipline and execution from the circle. Both teams are very good defensively, both teams can swing it. Where Arizona has the advantage, they had speed. But if Arizona can’t be disciplined at the plate, the speed can’t get on and the speed can’t change the game. We’ve seen Arizona be vulnerable to the riseball; I think Arkansas has a little bit more plate discipline. It comes down to: Can pitchers execute in the circle, make the ball rise through the zone and not just throw the spots? If you’re throwing the spots, you’re going to get hit hard. You’ve got to make the ball wiggle through the zone. Arkansas has shown they can make it wiggle a little bit more consistently than Arizona, and Arkansas has shown a little more plate discipline than Arizona, so it, I think it all comes down to execution in the circle and plate discipline.”
What do you see in the Wildcats right now?
A: “This team is driven by something more than just winning. And I think that bodes well for them. Heading into Fayetteville, knowing that maybe this is Coach’s last run. Maybe it’s the ‘super seniors’ last run and you’re a freshman and you want to show out for those athletes that have really taken you under their wing, pushed you along and taught you what the culture of the program means. And you’re seeing that in the Wildcats right now; they’re playing for something that doesn’t revolve around just themselves. They reached out and embraced not only the team but Coach, and extending it for something other than themselves.”
Do you think this is Candrea’s last run?
A: “I see hints of it. Nothing’s come out publicly. He’s never said anything to anybody outside of their little bubble. But I feel that, if it is, he’s doing it because it’s the right time. And if it is, it’s because he feels complete. He’s also learned that it doesn’t take a national championship to feel like you’ve done your job the right way. If it is, I hope he rides off into the sunset and is embraced. But if it’s not (the end), I’m happy. I also know that he’s hung on longer in the coaching world than many of us anticipated that he would. When (his first wife) Sue passed away, I think that softball became the thing he held on to. Now he knows that when he is done, it’s OK to be done — whenever that is.”
