Home Run Hitters Setting School Records
4/21/2015 10:04:00 AM | Softball
In softball, as in all sports, records were meant to be broken.
But, when Heather Robinson completed her career as a Sam Houston softball player with 19 career home runs in 1992, her mark appeared untouchable for the next two decades.
In the last three seasons, however, four Bearkats have surpassed that school mark and three currently are teammates on the 2015 Sam Houston softball squad.
Hillary Adams, senior first baseman from Elgin, Texas, finds it amazing that she is part of that trio.
“It's crazy that it looked like that record was never going to be broken and now we're all breaking it consecutively,” Adams said. “It's pretty awesome.”
After replacing another of Robinson's school marks with 13 home runs in one season as a sophomore in 2013 (Robinson's record was 11 in 1992), Adams ranks as Sam Houston's all-time home run leader with 39. She has hit eight homers this season.
Sarah Allison, a senior from A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, now stands as the second Bearkat to hit 30 career homers. Her 30th came April 17 in a victory at the Softball Complex over Abilene Christian.
Catcher Tiffany Castillo, a junior from Port Lavaca Calhoun High School, is the third member of the record-breaking trio with 24 home runs. Shelby Tucker, third baseman for the Kats who was a teammate of the current trio as a senior in 2013, completed her career with 21 home runs.
“We definitely don't try to hit home runs,” Allison said. “We focus more on line drives and getting on top of the ball. I don't think we ever expect to hit home runs. When they happen they just happen.”
Sam Houston head coach Bob Brock, who has totaled 1,089 career wins in his 30-year career, has started making opposing pitchers face all three long-ball hitters in a row in recent games.
“It is kind of cool that past few weeks we've been batting in a row with Tiffany third in the line-up and Hillary and I alternating in the fourth and fifth spots,” Allison said.
The three have combined for 21 home runs this season. Sam Houston has eight more games left on the 2015 regular season schedule for the trio to add to their totals. Each of the trio has a unique view of how they've become long-ball specialists.
“I used to hit a lot of home runs in high school so I guess it was expected of me to hit home runs in college,” Castillo said. “It helps all three of us a lot to be together in the batting order.”
Allison's career has been a bit different.
“I never hit a home run until I was a junior in high school,” Allison said. “At one point, I thought I was never going to hit a homer. But, I finally did. I had a coach tell me that once you hit one, they'll just keep coming. That turned out to be true.”
When their hits don't go over the fence, the trio still finds a way to get extra bases. Adams, Allison and Castillo have combined for 68 doubles and 790 total bases in their Sam Houston careers. Adams also ranks as Sam Houston's all-time leader in runs batted in with 131. Allison stands third in career RBIs with 109.
Each also has demonstrated the ability to play multiple positions. Allison started 37 games as a catcher her freshman year but also has played at first and second base, shortstop and now is in right field for the Bearkats.
“This season is my first time to play in the outfield for me. There's a lot of ground to cover out there,” Allison said. “It's totally different, but it's fun. I like it. It's been interesting to learn a new position this late in my career but I really do enjoy it.”
Castillo, who joined her older sister Cecilia as a Bearkat two years ago, also has started at both shortstop and catcher.
“I moved around a lot in high school, always playing a lot of positions,” Castillo said. “I had to pitch, move to the outfield and sometimes play shortstop. Where ever there was a spot to fill, they put me there. But I like catching best and that's where I am now. Playing with my sister the past two years was great. She was the biggest reason I came to Sam Houston so that we could play together. She's still part of the team as a student assistant coach.”
Adams was recruited as a catcher and also for her bat.
“I always caught, but then I got hurt and I was mainly the designated hitter,” Adams said. “Being able to be back on the field at first base has made me realized how much I really like playing in the field. It's completely different. It's hard to DH. You have to have a really different mindset. Not having to stand around in the dugout all the time really keeps me in the game now.”
Allison and Adams will join fellow seniors outfielder Jessica Slater and pitchers Haley Baros and Meme Quinn for 2015 senior day ceremonies when the softball team closes its regular season schedule on Saturday, May 2, with a 3 p.m. home game with Stephen F. Austin.
Allison notes she is the “old lady” of the team as a fifth-year senior. She red-shirted her true sophomore season due to a shoulder injury.
“It's been fun,” Allison said. “I've been able to watch every one of these groups of girls come through as freshmen all the way to their senior years. It's been fun to watch them grow not only in softball but in their life in general.”
Next action for the Bearkats will be a road doubleheader at Baylor Wednesday and a Southland Conference series with Incarnate Word in San Antonio on Friday and Saturday.
