Coach Tim Walton and the top-ranked Florida Gators ran through the regular season without many surprises en route to a blistering 52-3 record. But when the Gators headed to Knoxville for the SEC Tournament, Walton found out the conference had just instituted a new rule, which meant he would have to do something he hadn’t done before: wear a helmet while coaching his team from the third base coach’s box.
It is something he still isn’t completely used to — Walton had to call to the dugout and have senior catcher Kristina Hilberth bring the helmet out to the field after he forgot to put it on in the middle of last weekend’s NCAA Regional game against Lehigh — but that hasn’t kept Walton from having a little fun with it.
Since donning the helmet, Walton has decided to attach a sticker on the back to mark each of the Gators’ postseason wins, with the count currently standing at six.
“It was something silly,” Walton said. “I call it my rally helmet. So when I put it on, it’s just to try to rally up and get some more runs. So I look at it that way.”
Walton hopes to add more stickers to his “rally helmet” in this weekend’s NCAA Super Regionals, when the top-ranked Gators (58-3) will host #14/16 California (38-18) in a best-of-three series with the winner advancing to the College World Series in Oklahoma City. The teams will play at 8 p.m. on Saturday (on ESPN) and 6 p.m. on Sunday (on ESPN2). A third game with be played, if necessary, following Sunday’s game.
If two more stickers are added to the helmet this weekend, it will come with a touch of déjà vu. This is the second consecutive postseason the teams have met, and third overall. The Gators swept the Golden Bears with a pair of 4-2 victories in last year’s Super Regional, led by senior ace Stacey Nelson (37-3, 0.43 ERA), who pitched 16 innings and only allowed one earned run in the series. The teams also met twice in the 2001 Fresno Regional, with Cal winning 2-1 and 2-0 en route to a trip to Oklahoma City.
Nelson, who was named one of three finalists for the USA Softball College Player of the Year Award, may follow in last year’s footsteps of pitching each and every game from here on out, with sophomore Stephanie Brombacher (21-0, 0.78 ERA) waiting in relief as the Gators are looking to punch a return ticket to Oklahoma City.
It’s not a surprise why the Gators are such a successful team when you see how much fun they have on the field and how close they are as a team. Walton’s “rally helmet” may not seem like a big deal to the average bystander, but the helmet has lived up to its name, rallying the team even closer together than before.
“I think it’s great,” said junior third baseman Corrie Brooks. “I think that just lets us know how much he really cares about our team and how much passion he has for the game. He cares about us a lot and about winning that he can put stickers on his helmet to represent our wins.”
Seeing stickers on softball helmets isn’t unique sight for the players, but it’s not every day that you see a coach taking part in the festivities.
“You see some of the girls on the other teams have stickers on their helmets and you kind of say stuff about it like, ‘Oh, look at that,’” Brooks said. “But you know, I think since it’s our coach, we think it’s special that he really cares that much that he can do that and not care what he looks like.”
The fact Walton doesn’t care about how he looks with the helmet may be the biggest reason junior left fielder Francesca Enea loves the idea so much. Enea isn’t shy about sharing how much time she and other softball players spend on their hair and makeup before going out on the field before a big televised game, which if you listen to her, is a lot.
“I think it’s good that he doesn’t think too much like, ‘Oh, I look like an idiot wearing this helmet,’” said Enea, an All-American for the second straight year. “I’m really glad that he likes it and having fun with it as opposed to being like, ‘Oh, this sucks. I have to wear this helmet.’ It kind of makes me feel better about him and makes me want to go play hard because he’s not being a complete bummer about it.”
It’s a good thing Walton is such a good sport about the helmet because as the stickers keep adding up, the players are trying not to tell their coach how ridiculous they think the helmet is starting to look.
“Yeah, it’s definitely going to look stupid [as he keeps adding stickers],” Enea said. “But what am I going to say? He might sit me.”
But all of that is a complete afterthought for Walton, who only has one thing on his mind.
“I want more stickers,” Walton said. “I don’t care about my helmet. At this point and time it doesn’t matter.”
If Walton adds that last sticker on his helmet in Oklahoma City to go along with a trophy, then he says he is going to save the helmet, calling it “a collector’s item.”
But if the Gators do notch that last victory, nobody will need a helmet to remember this team.