Due to hard work and quiet leadership, Vanderbilt to continue softball dream at California State University Monterey Bay
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Have you ever heard of a team that doesn’t want a slugger that they can place in the middle of the order to drive in runs?
Likely the answer to that is a resounding no and for good reason. After all, sluggers are needed on the softball field.
It’s safe to say the California State University Monterey Bay softball program got their slugger going forward, as 3B/1B and Crushers cleanup hitter Emily Vanderbilt put ink to paper on Wednesday to play for the Otters after leaving Vintage.
“I’m just happy,” Vanderbilt said after putting pen to paper and signing her NLI. “Everybody’s here to support me through my whole softball journey and now my academic college (journey). It’s going to be great next year when I go off to college.”
Once getting down to Seaside, she plans to major in business. However, that is far from a final decision as she is leaving plenty of options on the table.
During her time at Vintage, Vanderbilt has been an anchor in the lineup. But this past spring, something clicked to unlock her power-hitting potential.
After all, she led the team last spring by hitting 9 home runs while finishing second on the team in RBIs with 24. She did all of this batting cleanup in the lineup which comes with the expectation of bringing in runs.
A major reason things started to click for her was a minor swing change, which resulted in more hard-hit balls.
“Freshman year, I decided to play travel instead of high school because I had a problem with my swing,” Vanderbilt explained. “It wasn’t working out for me and with one coach, she just tweaked it a little bit and I found my power position where I could see the ball great. I could get loaded, I could just swing as hard as I can and the ball will go anywhere because I found my power.”
Last spring, Vanderbilt finished with a .343 average. She was also named second-team all-Vine Valley Athletic League.
After graduating from Vintage next spring, Vanderbilt will change positions once at college by being a first baseman and power hitter for the Otters.
“First base for me, you’re involved in basically every play,” Vanderbilt said of the upcoming position change. “I love the hot corner but first base is also a hot corner. So I just love how I’m involved in every play and I could be right next to the pitcher if she needs me.”
One thing that led Vanderbilt to get this opportunity was the incredible amount of hard work that was done behind the scenes not only with Vintage but on the travel ball scene as well.
“I think that she worked her tail off before she even came to me,” Vintage head coach Megan Lopez explained. “I can’t speak to that beforehand and her sophomore year, but her junior year, she had been in the gym, she had doing been doing hitting on her own, she had been working hard behind the scenes, and to me, that’s what makes a great ballplayer is not doing everything in front of everybody but working on your own taking the initiative to put the work into your own craft.”
Another reason Vintage was so successful last spring was Vanderbilt leading by example. Last season the Crushers won the VVAL title by going 11-1 in league play and 21-4 overall. They lost in the CIF North Coast Section Division 1 semifinal to Heritage-Brentwood.
Come 2023, she will enter her senior season with eyes on finishing the job and winning a section title, and avenging that loss to Heritage.
“I want to win sections,” Vanderbilt said of the upcoming season. “That’s my big thing. We got our league title last year but I want to go further. We got to the semi-finals last year and we lost by one run in like the seventh inning I believe, and that was heartbreaking. But we have unfinished business. We are gonna go further and we are going to be Heritage this year.”
This past summer Vanderbilt was at PGF Nationals where there was a plethora of college coaches in attendance. Because of this, Otters head coach Andrea Kenny was able to see Vanderbilt, and shortly thereafter an offer was on the table.
“It was actually very sudden,” Vanderbilt said of the recruitment process. “At PGF Nationals, which is nationals for us. I was playing a game and had two great games and she (Kenny) was there and another college that I knew of, she knew me and she recommended me to coach Kenny who took a look at me and I performed in front of her and she liked me. Before I knew it, I had an offer on the table.”
Vanderbilt said there were other schools interested but staying close to home was what she liked most about CSU Monterey Bay.
“I had other offers too,” she pointed out. “But once I visited the campus, and I met coach Kenny, I knew it was the right fit for me.”
It’s also safe to say Vanderbilt will be joining a top-notch competitive program. Last season the Otters finished with a 37-23 overall record and an 18-18 mark in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. This earned them the fifth seed in the six-team CCAA Tournament that was played in Seaside where they were eliminated by California State University San Marcos.
“I’m excited to compete,” Vanderbilt said of joining a team that is always talented. “I love competing. I’m a very competitive person. So I love competing and I’m going into the winning nature is just going to be great because I just want to prove myself to that team. Next year when I’m there, I hope to go further and I hope we beat Sonoma State and San Marcos.”
The Otters ultimately qualified for the NCAA Division 2 softball tournament where they were defeated by Sonoma State and San Marcos in the West regional, who are both CCAA opponents.
Vanderbilt is also the second Vintage athlete to sign a National Letter of Intent to play at California State University Monterey Bay. Last May, Jackson Corley signed with the Otters to play basketball.
