2020. 3. 3. 08:10ㆍ카테고리 없음
Barbara Rodriguez/Special to NorthJersey.comTo illustrate, last year’s Bruins roster included 21 girls from California, one from Florida and one from Texas.So what is NV/Old Tappan’s Julie Rodriguez doing, going to UCLA?“Actually, I’ll be the first kid from New Jersey to go there,” Rodriguez said.“The UCLA coaches always say, ‘She’s the random girl from New Jersey who came out and shocked us’.”As a high school freshman, Rodriguez shocked the UCLA coaches at a tryout camp before verbally committing to play there. Earlier this winter, Rodriguez made it official when she signed on the dotted line and joined the perennial national power.“Julie is phenomenal,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She’s got the whole package.”Looking back, it took years for UCLA and Rodriguez to get together.As a member of the club team Jersey Intensity, Rodriguez traveled to tournaments all over the country. Coaches from almost all the top colleges watched her play but one school always seemed to be missing – UCLA.“They didn’t really know about me,” Rodriguez said.Rodriguez knew about UCLA, though.
Julie Pacino Softball Ucla Football
She’d participated in a UCLA camp as a 9-year-old and was blown away.“It was 2010 and they’d just won the national championship,” Rodriguez said. “It was the summer after they won, so you can’t imagine how excited the campus was how thrilling it was to be there.”From that point on, UCLA was Rodriguez’s dream school.Unfortunately, it was more of a pipedream until the fall of her freshman year. That’s when Rob Crews, her well-respected and connected batting coach, got her an invite to an exclusive UCLA camp. Rodriguez was one of roughly 30 players – mostly Californians - who showed off their skills.“It was two days of hitting, fielding, anything you can think of,” Rodriguez said. “And basically, I killed it.”After the camp, the UCLA coaches met with Rodriguez and told her they “were really interested and would keep in touch.” Two months later, Inouye-Perez offered Rodriguez a scholarship and she verbally committed.Three years later, Rodriguez is raring to go. She’ll join a program that’s won a record 11 NCAA championships.“My recruiting class is ranked No.
1 in the nation so we’ve got a great future ahead of us,” Rodriguez said.In Rodriguez, the Bruins will get the greatest hitter in NV/Old Tappan history. She has a career batting average of.626 and holds the team’s single-season records for average (.712), doubles (13) and triples (9).
Rodriguez has struck out just once in her entire career while receiving an inordinate number of intentional walks.On the mound, Rodriguez has a career mark of 41-17 with 366 strikeouts in 382 innings. While she pitches in high school, Rodriguez is an outfielder for Jersey Intensity and will play that position in college.More than anything, Rodriguez is known for her incredible bat speed. Her hitting prowess is even more amazing because she measures just 5 feet, 3 inches and 120 pounds.“Honestly, I’ve never seen my size as a negative thing,” Rodriguez said. “I actually love it because I’m a lefty slapper. They always move in and I hit it over their heads.”Inouye-Perez said Rodriguez “can hit with anyone” but considers her much more than a great player.“Academically, athletically and in terms of leadership, Julie is the type of person we want representing UCLA,” Inouye-Perez said. “She’s very energetic, positive and competitive.
Julie Pacino Softball Ucla Basketball
There are so many great things I could say about her.”Looking ahead, Rodriguez says she’s nervous about going far off to college. But she also said, “What’s a four-hour flight versus a two-hour flight?”“I was never thinking about staying local for college anyway,” Rodriguez said.“Once I get there, I really don’t think I’ll be back, though.
It’s so beautiful and I’ve always wanted to live there.”.