Baseball is an extremely team-oriented sport. Each player on the field must be at their physical and mental peak in order to achieve success. On top of that, all outfield players must be just as good at defending runs as they are at creating them.
Senior Rachel Procter is a shining example of that skill. The Health Science major plays out in right field, and last season she led the team in batting average.
“I started probably at the age of five or six,” explains Proctor. “[I] started with teeball, and worked my way up to play Club A ball at White Rock Renegades, and eventually came here.”
After the age of 12, at the insistence of her coach, Proctor switched from being a pitcher to playing in right field, a role she now greatly enjoys.
“I think that [in the] outfield you can make some really big plays compared to an infielder. If you make a mistake in the infield, it’s only a base hit, but if you make a mistake in the outfield, it’s huge. So [you’re able to] make some game-saving catches.”
From there, Proctor came to SFU where last season, she led the Clan in batting average, with .354. A tireless worker, Proctor has spent countless hour over the course of her time at SFU trying to perfect her swing.
“We have a coach who will help us correct [and] we do some video analysis on your swing [. . .] I know over the summer I used the video analysis and identified things I need to work on. So you just have to do repetitions on things that you know are your weaknesses and eventually get better at them.”
So how does she approach hitting once he gets to the plate?
“It depends on the pitcher,” she said. “From the sidelines, we watch what the pitcher is throwing and what her tendencies are. So then you can kind of go in there thinking what she’s going to be throwing. [For example,] if I know she throws a first pitch strike, then I’m thinking to be more aggressive on first pitch.”
In addition to hitting, a major part of softball is the mental aspect. Players have to cope with the doubleheader — when two games are immediately played back to back on the same day.
“At first it was really hard adjusting [to doubleheaders], just because win or lose in club ball you can just go home. But now, win or lose, you have to realise that you’re playing a game right after. So if you lose, you have realise how to bounce back, and if you win, you have to realise that you need to stay with the momentum, and that momentum is on your side.”
What goes through her mind after a tough loss in a first game?
“If you win, you have to realise that you need to stay with the momentum.”
“The thing I really think about is we really have nothing to lose,” she explained. “If a team has beaten you, they might think that they have the upper hand or advantage, so it’s really important to be resilient and bounce back with the most positive attitude that you can.”
A large part of Proctor’s senior year has been leading by example. Back in February, Head Coach Mike Renney told The Peak that he expected the seniors to lead not only by example, but by performance as well, and to help guide the younger players.
“I think one thing is definitely showing hard work and trying your best,” Proctor said. “It’s not always about succeeding, as much as we’d like to succeed, but I think if you put hard work in, your probability of succeeding is higher. I think myself and the rest of the seniors always just want to show maybe the freshmen and the sophomores that hard work pays off in the end.”
Success has come early this season for her team. They are currently 14–10 at the time of writing, with a four game sweep of Montana State University-Billings a impressive early highlight.
“So far I think the season’s gone really well,” said Proctor. “I think we’re off to the right track [. . .] We’re still pretty early in the season, but if we’re going game by game, I think we’ve done really well. We’ve shown that we can play as a team, and compete in GNAC.”
Fun Fact: Proctor’s walkup song is ‘The Only Way I Know,’ by Jason Aldean. “But,” she says, “I also like Taylor Gillis’ song: ‘King Kunta’ by Kendrick Lamar.”
