Torres raises Miami's game in Season 2

MU third baseman credits improvement in her offensive stats to the ability to keep her cool.

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer 12:34 AM Thursday, May 6, 2010

OXFORD — The secret to Daniela Torres’ success is self-control. Feel angry? Don’t let it show. Discouraged? Get over it. Anxious? Calm down.

That way, Torres keeps a handle on her emotions, one reason the sophomore third baseman from Harwood Heights, Ill., has seen her batting average jump 181 points in one year for Miami University’s softball team.

“It’s important being able to control your emotions and being able to control your swing,” said Torres, who batted .180 as a utility infielder in her freshman season.

Now she has found a home at third base and in the No. 2 spot in Miami’s batting order, and her numbers have jumped through the roof.

Torres’ .361 batting average, .440 on-base percentage and four home runs are second best on the team. She leads the RedHawks in runs scored (32) and triples (four), and has stolen 11 bases in 12 tries.

Torres is an aggressive player who knows how to keep her cool.

“Coaches don’t always look for talent, they look for your emotions on the field, how you bounce back from an error,” she said. “If you don’t like a call the umpire makes, you can’t do anything about it, so why show your emotions anyway?

“It’s easy to give in to your emotions,” she said. “The hard thing is not to get too angry at yourself, like when you strike out, or at the umpire. It takes time to know how to do that in a game situation because you get caught up in the moment.”

But being calm is not the same thing as not being aggressive.

“I try to stay aggressive and stay confident in the swing I have no matter what pitch I get,” Torres said.

“I like being aggressive early in the count and looking for a strike,” she said. “It’ll keep you wanting to swing at a strike and not just at a fastball.”

Torres’ production has helped Miami overcome a slow start to win eight of its last 11 games, and the RedHawks will take a 27-22 record, 10-8 in the Mid-American Conference, into its final four games of the regular season this weekend, all at home.

The RedHawks play a doubleheader against Ohio at 1 and 3 p.m. Friday, May 7, and then face Akron at 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

After that, Miami will try to defend its championship at the MAC Tournament, which will be held May 12-15 at Akron.

Torres batted .477 as a senior in high school but found the hits few and far between last season.

“It’s always frustrating, especially offensively when you’re not producing like you’re used to,” she said. “You have to forget the frustration and move past it.”

Daniela Torres

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