Sometimes, all you need to do is slow the game down and have fun.
The approach is working for UA slugger Sharlize Palacios, who found herself the hero of last weekendβs NCAA Regionals.
Saturday against Ole Miss, Palacios walked up to the plate with the bases loaded. With no pressure and no nerves, Palacios β Arizonaβs designated player β crushed a grand slam to give the Wildcats an eight-run lead. They would win that game, and one the following day, to advance to this weekendβs super regional against No. 6 Arkansas. Palacios finished the weekend 8 for 13 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.
Not bad for a freshman playing in the first postseason of her career.
UA coach Mike Candrea said when he recruited her that βshe lived for the big moments.β
βI never have seen her get rattled, and sheβs got really good composure,β Candrea said. βFor a kid of her age, I have a lot of confidence in her that sheβs going to be able to get good pitches and put good swings on it.
βIt goes back to how sheβs grown up. Her dad has been a big influence in her life. Her dad was a baseball player and her sister plays softball β sheβs been around the game forever. I think when youβre around the game that much, youβd have a tendency to grow mentally, as well as you do with your skill set. I think thatβs where Palacios is right now. I think sheβs very strong. She has very strong mental game sheβs got emotional stability and sheβs got good physical tools.β
Team Mexicoβs Sashel Palacios, left, hugs sister Sharlize Palacios during an April exhibition at Hillenbrand Stadium. Sashel, a former ASU catcher, told Sharlize to go have fun and relax, and the advice has worked.
Palacios started hot in her UA career. She hit .324 over 13 games in last yearβs pandemic-and-injury-shortened season. Given a chance to play her freshman season over again, she batted .326 with 15 home runs during the regular season while collecting All-Pac-12 first team and All-Pac-12 freshman team honors.
However, Palacios went hitless over the Wildcatsβ final two regular-season series against Oregon and UCLA.
Stuck in a slump, she refused to panic. Palacios put extra work, talked to all her coaches and checked in with her father, Francisco. Then, she hit the batting cages.
βI wanted to make a different destiny for me in the postseason, so I just worked endless hours in the cage,β Palacios said. ββ¦ I know Iβm a good hitter and I was trying to be a different type of hitter when I wasnβt doing well, and I was trying to take things too big. I donβt try to hit home runs; it just kind of happens for me. I know thatβs weird to say, but I go for base hits up the middle β¦ thatβs my approach, and I just had to keep that approach and things work out for me.β
Similarly, the Wildcats will try to stay within themselves this weekend, even though a series win would put them back in the Womenβs College World Series. Palacios has been among the players reminding her teammates to stay focused and have fun.
βI think her big mentality right now is to breathe,β senior Dejah Mulipola said. βShe tells me that all the time when I go to bat β¦ to breathe. She tells other batters to breathe. I think as freshman, thatβs huge coming from them. To tell an upperclassman like βHey, breathe; have your at-bat,β I think thatβs just a cool thing because our younger girls are β¦ itβs like theyβve been here before, and they havenβt. They have that experience, they have that maturity and I think that speaks tributes to their character.β
Candrea says his freshman is exceeding expectations already.
βI tell people all the time (when) they ask about recruiting classes I said, βWell, ask me when they are juniors and Iβll tell you how good they are,ββ Candrea said. βPalacios is one of those kids right now that is above the curve. Sheβs really settled down and played very mature softball at an early age and itβs fun to watch.β
Palacios wasnβt always this way. As a true freshman in 2020, she said she was βtense and put a lot of pressure on myself.β It didnβt help that she endured two injuries and was catching in place of Mulipola, who took the season off to train with the United States Olympic team.
Palaciosβ older sister, Sashel, helped her loosen up. Sashel, a fellow catcher, played for ASU in college and now plays both professionally and for Team Mexico.
Sharlize Palacios took the advice. Saturday, she showed her teammates and the softball world exactly what happens when you have fun.
βI just love the pressure situations β I mean, I thrive on them,β she said. βTheyβre not always going to go my way but when they do, itβs awesome.β
And while the Wildcats are focused on beating Arkansas, a peek at the future shows that thereβs plenty to be excited about. Palacios will take over for Mulipola behind the plate next season and should, with more experience, only improve offensively.
βSheβs putting up video-game numbers,β Mulipola siad. βSheβs hit so many home runs, more than I hit my freshman year. To see whatβs to come in the future is going to be exciting. Itβs giving me chills right now just talking about it because she is a great player and person. Iβm very excited to watch that and to know that the program is going to be in good hands with another catcher behind the plate like her.β
