A Newsletter for the Neighbors of the University of California, Berkeley

It happems every spring

Cal has become a perennial powerhouse in intercollegiate softball. One Berkeley native has had her eye on the team from the start

By Cathy Cockrell

“Home game” has a unique meaning for Berkeley native Emily Friedman, a lifelong softball fan who grew up in Berkeley’s Panoramic Hill neighborhood. Memorial Stadium was virtually in her backyard back then, and so was Levine-Fricke Field, home of the California softball team.

“Growing up in a college town, you’re a fan of the school and the teams,” says Friedman. The Golden Bears softball squad “was my team, since I was 8 or 10 years old. I’d walk down Panoramic and watch the games and the practices.”

Friedman played varsity softball at Berkeley High and spent several summers in her teens on the highly competitive travel ball circuit (with the San Jose Strikkers and the Stockton Runnin’ Rebels), then won a scholarship to the University of Wisconsin.

Last fall, after two years as one of the Badgers’ top players, Friedman transfered to Cal and returned to Levine-Fricke Field — this time covering second base for the team she once peered at through the fence, cheered from the stands, and even served, on occasion, as bat girl. To add to the irony and excitement of it all, she’s back under the guidance of Diane Ninemire — the Cal coach who taught her the game, from the ground up, in softball summer camps.

“She definitely pushes us hard,” she says of Ninemire. “She cares about us as a team, and as individuals, a lot. Even at practices, she expects us to be the best.”

Ninemire’s high standards have paid off. In her 23 years with the Cal softball program — 18 of them as head coach — she has elevated the program to the highest level and come to be recognized, in the process, as one of the top softball coaches in the world. Last year, she served as assistant coach to the 2004 Greek Olympic softball team.

Now regarded as one of the perennial powerhouse teams, the Bears have made it to the Women’s College World Series for the last six years — coming in second in 2003 and 2004 and taking the NCAA title in 2002. Six of Cal’s current seniors were freshmen on that WCWS title team. This spring, on the verge of graduation, they’re hungry for another trophy. So are the newer players.

“We have a whole infield full of seniors,” says Friedman. “We have every single element of the game necessary to win: defense, pitching, offense, and speed.”

So far, the season has brought a series of rainouts for No. 2 California, with a 23-3 record by the close of the mid-March Capital Classic Tournament in Sacramento. Ninemire, of course, is gunning for a second national title, though she’s philosophical about taking it “one game at a time.”

However the season pans out, she takes great pride in the fact that Cal can offer players like Friedman the “best of both worlds” — a great education and a great softball program. “Life doesn’t get much better than that,” she says.

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