Brittany Schutte is on course to have the best softball season any Florida freshman has had statistically as she is poised to shatter many of Florida’s freshman records.
Schutte has made several adjustments since she arrived at Florida that could point to the level of success she is having, but you would have to go way back to discover the foundation of her softball talent. Way before Schutte learned to dominate the softball diamond, the seeds to her success were being planted on the baseball diamond.
Schutte grew up with two older brothers and wanted nothing more than to be a part of what they did and to follow in their footsteps. One thing led to another and Schutte found herself on the baseball field.
Schutte said that most of the fundamentals that translated into her softball career were beaten into her head for the nine years that she played baseball, but perhaps the biggest effect baseball had on Schutte was from a competitive standpoint.
“I felt like I was playing at a higher level, even though I was at the same age level with the boys,” Schutte said. “It kind of helped shape me as a person having to get beyond what boys thought, saying ‘Oh my God. That’s a girl. What is she doing out here?’ I had to prove myself more as an athlete when I was playing baseball.”
Schutte certainly proved herself, as she was named to the baseball recreation league all-star team in the sport that she used to pitch and catch in, among other positions. When she entered the seventh grade, Schutte’s friends had a proposition for her, one that would set the wheels in motion for where she is today.
“It was really random,” Schutte said. “I was at middle school hanging out with friends and they were like, ‘You should come try out for our travel team.’ I was just joking with them, ‘OK, maybe.’ I went home and talked to my mom about it, and next thing I knew I was on the softball field. That was where it all started.”
The rest is history. Schutte will continue writing her own history in Florida’s record books when the third-ranked Gators (32-4, 12-2 SEC) take on Kentucky (26-16, 10-9) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium this weekend. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, with the series finale to be played at noon on Sunday.
Schutte is coming off a week in which she earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors, batting .556 and hitting two home runs. The week is just a microcosm of the impressive season she has been putting together.
Schutte has her eyes set on a slew of freshmen records within her reach. Her mark of 12 home runs is one behind teammate Megan Bush’s freshman record (2008) and her 34 RBI sit nine behind Kristin Sandler’s record (1997). She also has a chance to break the freshmen batting average record of .336 set by Aja Paculba in 2008 (Schutte is batting .330) and the freshman on-base percentage record of .443 set by Tiffany DeFelice in 2008 (Schutte is currently at .440). She also stands a good chance of obliterating the freshman slugging percentage record of .571 – Schutte is currently at .757.
Coming to Florida, Schutte wasn’t aware of the numbers in the record books and she didn’t have any specific goals of setting records. Although her top priority will always be winning, she admitted that she now has personal goals to attain.
“I had certain expectations, but never in my mind was there a goal,” Schutte said. “I never looked at records for what freshmen have done. But now that it’s been brought to my attention, I think it’s a great goal for me to have. I just want to keep doing what I’m doing. It’s a thought in the back of my mind, but it’s not the biggest thought in my mind. I just want to keep contributing to my team and just play the game.”
But there was one number that Schutte threw out there before the season began: 30. That was her response when Coach Tim Walton asked her how many home runs she planned on hitting this season. It’s certainly a lofty goal for any player, especially considering Francesca Enea’s single-season mark of 18 last year is the Florida record, but it was an even more surprising number for Schutte. That’s because the second number she threw out was 2 – the number of home runs she hit her senior year of high school.
“[Walton] asked me how many home runs I had in high school, and I said I only had two. He said, ‘No way. You would think you had a lot more,’” Schutte said. “From the adjustments he made with my swing and how things have been looking in BP and everything, [Walton] felt that I could hit a lot of home runs. It (30) was just a random number that I threw out there that I thought would impress him or make him feel good.”
Those adjustments were minor, things like adjusting her batting stance and the position of her hands, but they have certainly made a major difference.
Where Schutte has made her biggest adjustment has been behind the plate, where she took over for DeFelice, who broke a bone in her hand against UCF on March 31.
“It’s bringing back memories of travel ball in the summer when I was catching,” Schutte said. “It’s been one of my main positions, but I haven’t always been the starting catcher. I have just played randomly throughout the field. It’s new, but it’s fun being back there. I’m glad to be back there, hopefully doing a good job for my team.”
Becoming the starting catcher has paired Schutte on the field with her roommate, freshman Ensley Gammel. The two have developed a close friendship, one that Gammel describes as sisterly. Schutte is described as the older sister Gammel never had, one who is always there to keep her in check when school work is due or to calm her down when the adrenaline gets pumping.
“After I gave up that home run at Alabama and we came back, she told me after I gave it up, ‘0-0 ball game. Just take care of business,’” Gammel said. “She’s always out there supporting me. It’s good to have a supporting catcher that will calm you down, even when you’re really nervous.”
So naturally, Schutte’s move to catcher was a seamless one. Schutte will talk to Gammel between pitches to keep the nerves and the comfort level right where they need to be, but perhaps the biggest compliment of Schutte’s play is that Gammel said she didn’t even notice a transition when DeFelice went out with an injury.
After playing baseball and transitioning to softball, all those other adjustments probably seem minor to Schutte. She doesn’t ever get the urge to go back to the sport she played so long ago, but she does get a little nostalgic sometimes.
“Whenever Coach’s son comes out and throws the baseball it brings back memories of when I used to pitch,” Schutte said. “The ball seemed so much bigger then, and now it’s so much smaller because of the whole softball thing.”
It’s safe to say the whole softball thing is working out pretty good for Brittany Schutte. In fact, the boys should be glad she doesn’t plan on returning to baseball anytime soon.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Eastern Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
(3) Florida 12-2 .857 32-4 .889
(16) Tennessee 14-4 .778 35-8 .814
(13) Georgia 11-6 .647 33-8 .805
Kentucky 10-9 .526 26-16 .619
South Carolina 0-19 .000 10-31 .244
Western Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
(5) Alabama 12-4 .750 32-9 .780
(15) Louisiana State 11-5 .688 33-9 .786
Arkansas 8-8 .500 24-18 .571
Auburn 6-11 .353 23-17 .575
Mississippi 5-10 .333 23-18 .561
Mississippi State 3-14 .176 22-23 .469
(Rank) USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll
SCHEDULE
SATURDAY / April 17
Kentucky at Florida (2), 1 p.m.
Auburn at Georgia (2), 1 p.m.
Mississippi State at South Carolina (2), 1 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama (2), 2 p.m.
Arkansas at Louisiana State (2), 2 p.m.
SUNDAY / April 18
Kentucky at Florida, 12 p.m. (ESPNU)
Mississippi State at South Carolina, 2 p.m.
Auburn at Georgia, 2 p.m.
Arkansas at Louisiana State, 2 p.m.
RESULTS
TUESDAY / April 13
Georgia 3-7, Mississippi State 0-6
Auburn 4, Mercer 0
Alabama 6, Mississippi Valley 1
WEDNESDAY / April 14
Florida 8-9, Florida State 4-2
Tennessee 3-5, Arkansas 1-3
Kentucky 9, Western Kentucky 3
Louisiana State 15, Nicholls 2
USC Upstate 5, South Carolina 0
THURSDAY / April 15
Mississippi 7-3, Samford 3-1
RANKINGS
April 13, 2010
USA TODAY/NATIONAL FASTPITCH COACHES ASSOCIATION
1. Washington (33-3); 2. Michigan (30-5); 3. Florida (30-4); 4. Arizona (32-6); 5. Alabama (31-9); 6. Arizona State (35-6); 7. UCLA (27-9); 8. Stanford (30-6); 9. (tie) Georgia Tech (35-6) and Oklahoma State (36-7);
11. Missouri (27-8); 12. Oklahoma (31-9); 13. Georgia (31-8); 14. Texas (34-9); 15. Louisiana State (32-9); 16. (tie) Tennessee (33-8) and California (30-11); 18. Illinois (27-5); 19. Florida State (36-8); 20. Ohio State (22-11);
21. Massachusetts (25-7); 22. Texas A&M (32-11); 23. Oregon (28-6); 24. Notre Dame (29-6); 25. Louisville (25-12).
ESPN.com/USA SOFTBALL DIVISION I
1. Washington (33-3); 2. Michigan (30-5); 3. Arizona (32-7); 4. Florida (30-4); 5. Alabama (31-9); 6. Arizona State (35-6); 7. Georgia Tech (35-6); 8. UCLA (27-9); 9. Oklahoma State (36-7); 10. Stanford (30-6);
11. Georgia (31-8); 12. Oklahoma (31-9); 13. Louisiana State (32-9); 14. Missouri (27-8); 15. Texas (34-9); 16. Florida State (36-9); 17. Oregon (28-6); 18. Tennessee (33-8); 19. California (30-11); 20. Illlinois (27-5);
21. Texas A&M (32-11); 22. Massachusetts (25-7); 23. North Carolina (31-13); 24. Ohio State (22-11); 25. Hawaii (33-11).