Rainbow shortstop Judd tough on self, opponents

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i senior Kate Judd is a two-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, but she still considers herself "inconsistent." Eugene Tanner • Honolulu Advertiser

The University of Hawai'i senior from Australia plays her final home softball games today and Saturday against San Jose State. She has started at shortstop the last 193 games. It has never been boring.

Judd was WAC Player of the Year the past two seasons, the first to earn the award in successive years. She is among the top three in career home runs, doubles, RBIs and walks at UH. She hits for average and power and has an arm so lively her range is basically anything on the left past the third baseman and in front of the left fielder and center fielder.

Few have put such an indelible imprint on the Hawai'i program. Fewer have been harder on themselves. That is why, after three brilliant seasons, Judd talks about her final year in such tough terms.

"At some point in the season I told myself just do what you can in each situation," Judd says, her months-long frustration obvious in her tone. "For awhile, for me, that just meant carrying the bats on road trips. I've got to do something for them."

She should say something more. Her home runs and RBIs are down and her strikeouts are up, but Judd is still hitting .295 and making plays at shortstop most don't attempt.

Why the frustration? Coolen traces it back nearly a year, when Judd was not asked to play for Australia during the summer international season after making the trip a year earlier.

"It bothered her that something was passing her by because of all the pressure she felt either from herself or others Down Under," says Coolen, who recruited Judd out of Canberra and Australia's junior national team. "And our expectations. I'm not going to lie. We'd seen Kate's good side — the carefree, free-swinging side of her. We see a different person now.

"I hope, in the last 10 games, something changes from the last 40-something games to allow her to get out of her senior year all the accomplishments she wants."

Australians have come and gone in softball here, often taking records and honors with them — and never quietly. From Brooke Wilkins to Kelly Gentle to Mel McGie, Felicity Witt and Stacey Porter, this has been a loquacious bunch.

Judd is the exception. "She is not very loud," Porter agrees. "The rest of us make up for it."

In her solitude, Judd is self-deprecating to a fault. She semi-seriously claims her UH softball legacy will be as "one of the most inconsistent players Hawai'i ever had."

But even she will admit that during slumps, "I don't seem to dig the hole too deep." Judd in a slump is better than most on a surge. She has transformed herself from a player who survived on instincts and skill to one who can anticipate almost every play and pitch. Her growth and success only make this season feel more frustrating.

"I'm sure it's a mind thing," Judd says. "I know I'm hard on myself. That doesn't help. But I'd like to know what's wrong."

So would all the Rainbows. "It's all her," Coolen says. "It's nothing to do with her ability because she has tremendous ability."

Still, Judd simply can't shake the feeling. Yet.

"I've gone like a yo-yo," she says. "Plus I have all these expectations — WAC Player of the Year, Preseason Player of the Year ... you have that in the back of your mind, but that's the past. You have to forget about it and just play."

Fortunately for Judd and the Rainbow Wahine, they have all been able to pick her up when she falls. Particularly Porter, now hitting a phenomenal .456 and in awe of Judd's still-affable attitude in the face of personal demons.

"She's just the same way all the time," Porter says. "I get mad at myself when I don't hit, but she's always composed, always talking up the team, always thinking of others before she thinks of herself. Kate's got a great sense of humor. She keeps us up and takes care of us."

Judd has never lost her appreciation for Hawai'i's gifts. She didn't pursue the program, it pursued her and she simply thought the opportunity to play more softball in a beautiful setting would "be cool."

She will take that same simple spirit back home after she gets her degree in exercise physiology, but she will never be quite the same.

"If I'd stayed home I'd have finished 'uni' by now and had a degree," she says. "But I would just be going along doing the same old thing I'd always done. I don't see the point in that. This was a good decision for me. ... It sort of fell in my lap. When I go home, I'm waiting to see what lands next."

Until then, Judd will keep trying to shake her senior "slump" and help the 'Bows do something they have never done. Just the thought of holding on to first in the conference is enough to lift Judd's spirits.

"I just want to win this bloody WAC and I actually feel like we can do it now," she says. "Then we can go to regionals and use this momentum we've got to win wherever we go. That would be really good."

SHORT HOPS: Tonight's games will be shown live on KFVE (channel 5). ... San Jose State (21-30, 3-7 WAC) has lost its last nine. ... UH junior Stacey Porter needs five homers to tie for third on the WAC career list. Her 10th homer of the season last week gave her 31 in two-plus seasons. ... UH leadoff batter Tracie Uchima is hitting .429 in her last 12 games and has moved up to 11th in the WAC at .304. ... The 2003 Rainbow Wahine Softball Camps will be in June, July and August. The first (June 11-13) and last camp (Aug. 13-15) are for players ages 8-12. The July 22-24 camp is for players ages 13-18. Call 956-4506 for more information.