Sept. 30, 2013

South Carolina’s large incoming class in softball has lots of learning experiences ahead, with one being how to compete against some of the nation’s top competition in the Southeastern Conference. But at least Kaylea Snaer has some knowledge of this from her travel-ball days.

The Rowland Heights, Calif., native played on the SoCal Athletics team, winners of the past four Premier Girls Fastpitch national titles. Snaer played on two of those winning teams, anchoring them at first base. She said from day one, “I felt like a champion, and our team unity is what helped us get to that level.

“When you think back on it, it’s pretty crazy to think that (the same team won) four-consecutive years. People would always ask us what it was (that made us so good), and there is no specific (answer). We just came together as a team, and we had a good result.”

So many things stood out to Snaer, but the first title holds a special place in how it happened. “We were actually in the loser’s bracket. The day that we lost, people kind of thought that the Athletics where done and that we weren’t going to make it to the championship. The next day, we played five games in a row, and we had to beat the last team twice. The first of those games was 1-0, and the second game we mercy ruled them, (ending) about 12:30 or 1 in the morning.”

In these tournaments, players can learn a lot about the game and adjustments. That is one thing Snaer did the best. “In two different games, I had five at-bats, and the first two (in both) I struck out twice in a row. And in both of those games, the third at-bat I hit a two-run home run to tie them. The whole thing was just crazy. I got other hits after, but it was just crazy how I struck out two times in a row and then ended up hitting a two-run home run in both games.”

Snaer helped with the bat a lot, one of the things the South Carolina coaches loved about her game. But she can handle the glove, she says, remarking on one line drive she snagged. “The last play of the game, there was a line drive shot down the line. I just reacted and grabbed it.”

An emphasis for the Gamecocks is something else that’s familiar to Snaer: team unity. The SoCal Athletic coaches stressed some of the same elements that South Carolina head coach Beverly Smith emphasizes with her team. “It is extremely important because when you are on the field you have to be able to trust the position next to you and all the girls behind you,” said Snaer. “If you make a mistake, then they will pick you up. Our team was so close on and off the field that nobody was in little cliques.

“Even when we were doing well during Premier, we would all come together in a circle and say, `We are the Athletics; this is what we are here to do. It is one game at a time. Yesterday doesn’t matter.’ We are always looking at one game at a time and everybody was pretty good at staying focused on that game and what we were there to do.”

That focus will help Snaer and the rest of South Carolina’s team to strive for new heights come February 2014.