March 31, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - In one sense, coaches and teammates still talk about "The Catch," a thing-of-beauty grab where UCF's Natalie Land went behind second base, waited until the last possible second, dove parallel to the ground and snagged the humpback liner before skidding across the grass.
But in another sense, there's this when it comes to Land's gritty, dirty defense: "When a ball is hit, we just assume that Natalie will get to it even if she has to turn a flip to get there," star pitcher Ashleigh Cole said. "We're actually surprised when she doesn't get to a ball."
Head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie has been at UCF for nine seasons and she says with confidence that Land absolutely, positively has a chance to go down as the greatest defensive player ever to play for the Knights. And she still gushes about the catch that her 5-foot-6, ball-of-energy second baseman made last week in a defeat of Cornell.
"I just told Natalie that I was proud that I lived long enough to see a play like that," Luers-Gillispie said. "She plays all out all the time."
Land's defensive skills could get a test tonight when UCF's red-hot softball team hosts rival Florida before what is expected to be an overflow crowd. Bright House Sports Network will also televise the game, giving the 22-12 Knights a chance to showcase one of their finest teams in years.
Land's not too bad at the plate either. She leads all Knights' regulars in hitting at .322 and she has a stellar .367 on-base percentage. And she's been almost unstoppable on the base paths, converting on 12 of her 16 stolen base tries.
The showdown against Florida will be more than just another game to Land, a sophomore. As a native of tiny Mayo, Fla., population 1,004, Land was almost expected to be a Florida Gator after high school, where she was an all-state softball and basketball player. After all, her dad (Marc) and mother (Sonya) were big Gators fans and her uncle, Kerwin Bell, starred at quarterback at Florida before going on to play in the NFL and CFL.
Bell, now the head football coach at Jacksonville University, played a big role in Land's competitive spirit, coaching many of her youth-league basketball and softball teams. The two still exchange messages often with Bell offering pointers and inspiration.
Land surprised more than a few people when she picked UCF over UF coming out of Lafayette High School, saying she simply liked UCF better. Land said the irony of facing a school she most always thought she would end up at will hit her at some point tonight, but more important is the chance for UCF to knock of another elite program. UCF has already beaten Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Nebraska, Ohio State, Providence, Boston College, UConn and Villanova this season and has dreams of getting to Oklahoma City to the Women's College World Series.
"Any time you are playing one of the top teams in the country, it's exciting. It gives us a chance to knock off a Top 25 team, and we've been successful in doing that so far by beating Alabama and Ohio State," said Land, who will have "half of Mayo at the game" in the form of 25 friends and family in the stands. "We know Florida is a great team, and we're so excited to play them."
Land is usually excited to play any sort of sport because she is in many ways a competition junkie. A self-described "baller," she said she thrives on having a game mean something because it just makes her play even harder and lock in more mentally. And she plays with the sole purpose of winning.
"It doesn't matter what it is - video games, playing around, pick-up basketball, card games or board games, I just don't like to lose," Land said with a wry smile. "That's why on the softball field I'll do anything to win. My competitive stuff comes through on the field."
And that "stuff" usually results in Land coming off the field at the end of the day with grass stains and dirt covering her uniform. She's not afraid to dive for a ground ball, slide hard into second to break up a double play or sacrifice her body in order to win a game.
"She is definitely the dirtiest player on our team coming out of practices and games," Luers-Gillispie said. "Poor Vanessa (Kaye), our equipment manager ... she said Natalie has the absolute toughest uniform to clean. But if a ball is hit her way, you just know she's going to do whatever it takes to come up with it."
That kind of play has helped UCF race to a 7-1 start in Conference USA play. UCF swept Houston, a team that it had never beaten more than once before in any series. And they followed that up with a resounding three-game rout of Southern Miss. The Knights set winning the Conference USA regular season and tournament as preseason goals, but Land and several others also scribbled 'OKC' into their gloves in hopes of accomplishing even bigger dreams.
She just wants to do her part by hustling all-out and continue making plays like, "The Catch."
"I'm just trying to make a great play to get our team excited. I feel like when one player is hustling, the whole team feeds off of it," Land said. "I try to be that player for us."
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John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFathletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.