There is no restart button in life.
The Virginia softball squad cannot go back in time and redo last weekend's Triangle Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Cavaliers entered the tournament with high hopes and only came away with a record of 2-3.
Fortunately for Virginia though, this weekend brings another chance, another tournament where hopes are high yet again. The Cavaliers travel to Charlotte, N.C., to play in the Holiday Inn Green and White Tournament, a four-team round-robin tournament, hosted by UNC-Charlotte. The Cavaliers take the field against Temple and UNC-Charlotte on Saturday and then Kent State on Sunday. Virginia also may play in a championship game Sunday if they are successful.
Last weekend's Triangle Classic proved that perhaps the Cavaliers were not quite ready to start the season. That is something junior third-baseman Sara Larquier, a career .358 hitter who had a quiet weekend in Chapel Hill with just two hits in 16 at-bats, vows will change.
"I expect a completely different team [this weekend]," Larquier said. "I think we were all shocked by how we played, but we know that we have a lot more potential in us, and I think that will definitely come out this weekend."
Last weekend, the Cavaliers struggled putting runs on the board, totaling only eleven runs over the five games. Virginia, as a team, hit only .200 in the Triangle Classic. The squad has emphasized hitting against live pitching in practice this week and is looking to boost their run production against the competition in Charlotte.
"We were just disappointed that our bats weren't awake yet," Virginia coach Cheryl Spragnel said. "But we know that the people that weren't hitting -- we know that they can hit."
A bright spot in last weekend's tournament was the Cavaliers' pitching, particularly that of freshman Whitney Holstun. Going 2-1 in her first three appearances, Holstun came in as a freshman and carried the pitching staff, amassing a 1.95 ERA.
"Whitney did a great job," Sprangel said. "She showed great composure on the mound. She won her own game and came in a tough situation in the second game -- bases loaded in the sixth-- and was able to get two strikeouts. She didn't pitch as a first year -- she was pitching more like a fourth year with that much composure and calmness."
The Cavaliers took another positive away from last weekend's tournament by proving they could hang with ACC competition. North Carolina, an ACC rival, went 5-0 on the weekend and beat Virginia 3-2, yet the Cavaliers kept the game close and had opportunities to beat the Tar Heels.
"We showed ourselves that we are strong enough to stay with them, and we really should have won that game," Sprangel said.
This weekend, the Cavaliers are eager to redeem themselves for last weekend's slow start to the season, and for them, Saturday's games cannot come fast enough.
"It's always tough waiting four or five days to kind of get back out there and play again, to redeem yourself, to show what you can do," Larquier said.
The Cavaliers are looking to bring home a tournament championship this weekend, something the whole team believes they can do.
Maybe this time, they can hit replay instead of restart.
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