Catching Up With Rutgers Softball Rookies
Sep 23 | Softball
Softball freshmen Alexis Durando, Loren Williams and Megan Williams sat down with Rutgers Athletics to talk about their reason for coming to RU, the beginning of school and the intense transition.
Rutgers Athletics: What made you choose Rutgers?
Alexis Durando: Obviously the softball program was important for me and was one of the top reasons I chose to come to Rutgers. RU also has the program that I want to try to get into which is the physician’s assistant program. I liked the idea of going to school in my home state. When I came for a visit, I really liked it.
Megan Williams: I came to Rutgers because I wanted to play Division I softball and the school also had an anthropology program that I wanted to enroll in.
Loren Williams: I came here from Los Angeles because I wanted to go to a school on the east coast. Since I was able to come here and play softball, I thought it was a good opportunity to get away from home and experience life on my own.
RA: What has it been like since you arrived at school?
MW: It has been crazy!
LW: The first couple of days, we had everything planned out for us. It was fun but very busy. There were a lot of mandatory things, which wasn’t always fun, but overall it was a good experience.
RA: What about in terms of softball?
LW: We started lifting this week and we’re doing some conditioning and on the field work.
AD: Overall the experience has been good but extremely busy. It’s tough having to wake up at 6 a.m. for a 7 a.m. lift and then go to practice from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. After that we have classes all day, so it’s draining, but it’s what we have to do to help the team.
RA: Has it been a big transition from high school to college softball?
Everyone: Yes!
LW: I’ve never lifted weights before, so that was a hard transition. Everything is new. I’m just really sore and tired.
RA: Megan - with Nicole Lindley graduated, you may to contribute immediately for the Scarlet Knights. How have the older pitchers helped you with the transition?
MW: The older girls – Abby and Noelle – have been very supportive in teaching me the ropes. We are really close, it’s a tight knit group. They are helping me with everything, especially conditioning because while everyone else is batting, we are conditioning.
RA: What has been the hardest thing to get used to as a pitcher?
MW: There is a lot more conditioning between sets of pitches. You never get to take a break. If you’re not pitching, then you are doing an abs workout or sprints. That has been different for me because I am used to just pitching, not doing exercises while I am pitching.
RA: What about Loren and Alexis as position players?
LW: Usually I play short stop, but if there is someone who can play my position better and I can be used in a different spot. Whatever way I can help the team, I will play whatever position.
RA: Did you guys follow the team at all last year?
AD: Coach Nelson e-mailed us at the beginning of the season to let us know how things were going. Obviously, we saw that they made it to the BIG EAST Championship which is such a big thing for this program. We can’t wait to be a part of something that has come so far and has the potential to get better.
