Eldredge leads way for Cal softball team
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Kaleo Eldredge will literally lead California into its 17th straight NCAA Softball Championship Tournament tomorrow.
Eldredge is the leadoff hitter for Cal and will be the first batter of the game against Fresno State at Fresno in a regional game of the 48-team tournament.
Eldredge was selected second-team All Pac-10 Monday, one of two freshmen picked by conference coaches on the first two teams.
"That's cool," Eldredge exclaimed when Homegrown Report informed her of her selection.
Eldredge was the 2001 high school Position Player of the Year in Hawai'i, helping Baldwin High win Maui's first state softball championship.
She is the leading run producer this season for Cal, which is ranked fifth in the nation with a 48-19 record.
Eldredge is batting .313 (72-for-230), leads Cal in hits and has produced 60 runs (runs scored and RBIs, minus home runs). She has a .981 fielding average in center field (one error) and has started all 67 games.
Her average was as high as .357 in preseason, but dropped 29 points during the Pac-10 season. "Pac-10 pitching is tough," Eldredge said. "Six of the top eight (ranked) teams in the nation are in the Pac-10.
"I tell myself, 'I can play with these guys,' and I do whatever I can to help the team.
"I just have to relax and get the bat head out in front of the ball because these guys bring heat."
Eldredge said she was told she would be Cal's starting center fielder when she signed last year. "That put me in a comfort zone," she said. "I could relax and play."
• Pacific (Calif.)
The 17th-ranked Tigers, with three starters from Hawai'i, will play No. 8 Stanford in the game before Cal-Fresno State tomorrow in Fresno. Pacific finished second in the Big West and had a 42-15 overall record.
Right fielder Nicole Inouye (Sacred Hearts '99, of Kaimuki) received Pacific's Academic Achievement Award and its Most Improved Player award at a team banquet Sunday. She is an economics major with a 3.69 GPA and was mainly a pinch runner until this season, when she started 43 of 57 games.
Center fielder Estee Okumura (Punahou '99, of Kapahulu) and second baseman Aloha Yamaguchi (University '99, of Kahalu'u) also start for Pacific. Okumura, who was named second-team All-Big West yesterday, batted .290.
NOTES: Melissa Parrish (Moanalua '98) will start in left field for Army against 10th-ranked Texas in an NCAA regional game tomorrow at Norman, Okla. An incorrect first name was used for Parrish in last Wednesday's Homegrown Report. ... The last name of Puget Sound swimming champion Carla Fellezs (Kamehameha '98) was misspelled in reports on Feb. 20 and Dec. 5. ... The high school grade point average of Jolie Nitta, a Mililani all-state soccer player headed for Azusa Pacific (Calif.), is 3.9. Another figure was reported last Wednesday.
