Utah’s Bridget Castro has been playing softball since she was five years old, and she naturally has a good grasp on all the different areas and aspects of the game. But just like anything else in life, there is always room to improve. Castro found that out the hard way when she came to play at Utah.
Growing up playing middle infield, Castro found herself playing first base for the Utes, a position she wasn’t familiar with.
The transition from the middle infield to first base has been quite an adjustment for Castro. In this sport, if you know how to hit the ball, then there’s a spot for you on the team, and that’s exactly what happened with Castro.
“They wanted my bat,” Castro said. “That was the whole thing, so they placed me where it was the best fit.”
The rest of the Utah infield went through a similar process, as there were a lot of players who were moving around playing different positions during Utah’s games in the fall. The coaching staff was hoping to find the right combination of where they wanted each athlete to play so that they could put the best possible product out on the field.
“It was an interesting process, everyone was playing everywhere,” Castro recalls. “We were all playing different positions.”
Clearly the Ute coaching staff knew what they were doing because the infield has proven to be one of the most effective areas of Utah’s game. The chemistry between them on the field has grown, and the future is bright as none of the infielders are upperclassmen.
“The infield is great and they play really well together,” assistant coach Maggie Livreri said. “There is really good young leadership.”
Despite all of that, there was, and continues to be, a bit of a learning curve for Castro’s position change.
“It was frustrating at first,” Castro said of changing from the middle infield.
But Castro has been able to learn and progress quickly and has found playing the first base position enjoyable, something she wouldn’t have said a handful of years ago.
“I would have never played first base when I was younger,” Castro said. “I would have called the coaches crazy.”
It’s clear that Castro has been more than willing to play the position she never thought she would.
“Changing positions has been fun,” Castro said. “When the change was made, I was learning something new about the position every time at practice.”
Her responsibilities on first base are just part of what Castro has had to learn. Another thing she has had to get used to has been the line drives that come quickly off the bat of left-handed hitters.
“I was like ‘Oh my gosh, this is not second base or shortstop,’ ” Castro said.
She has come a long way since then, and has become the everyday first baseman for the Utes. Castro and the rest of the team have put aside their egos for the sake of the team’s success.
“It’s just been a total team effort,” Castro said. “We put goals into every game and we consistently try to get better. We are constantly striving to achieve our team goal of making the postseason, no matter what the cost is to achieve that.”
Castro and the rest of her team will look to continue their recent success, as they take on Arizona in a three-game series this weekend at Utah Softball Stadium.
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