Boston College Athletics
Mataya's Swiss Army Knife Approach Leads BC Softball
February 25, 2021 | Softball, #ForBoston Files
Slap or swing away? Either way, BC's junior leadoff will probably beat an opposing pitcher
Last weekend's trip to Tobacco Road teetered Boston College on the brink of a national headline. It nearly swept NC State in a doubleheader on Wednesday and pushed North Carolina into a tie-game through six innings on Friday. The Eagles then led NC State by a 6-1 margin after five on Saturday before the Wolfpack's four-run rally culminated in consecutive home runs in the seventh, the last of which walked off a 7-6 win.
It turned a potential three-win weekend into a 1-3 record against the two teams, but any disappointment among the Eagles instead transformed into a more rigid determination. They played well in the field, and the bats damaged both teams' pitching with 16 runs across the latter three games.
Individuals succeeded and laid the groundwork for this year's team game. At the top of the order, junior Ellie Mataya's five-game hitting streak that started against North Florida ended, but a subsequent streak started immediately, the third such streak dating back to the abbreviated end of last year.
"Ellie has that really good hand-eye coordination," head coach Amy Kvilhaug said, "and she has a mindset and insight that she just won't freak out (in the box). She has this chip and a chill approach in the box that every single pitch, no matter what the situation is, won't change her mentality. That helps good hitters turn into special hitters, and she adds a little bit of speed into the mix."
Mataya very quietly dominated both the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels with eight hits on the weekend, but she punished individual plate appearances in every game. She went 2-for-4 in both ends of the double header against NC State and stole a bag in each of the three games in Raleigh. UNC, meanwhile, quieted her during Friday's doubleheader, but her single to second in the top of the fifth of the second game advanced a runner into scoring position with one out.
The first game of that doubleheader snapped what was a five game hitting streak after she notched an RBI double against both North Florida and Jacksonville. Those games bookended another 1-for-3 day against the Ospreys that included a walk and a stolen base, and she leads BC with a .387 average.
"There are just some people who see the ball," Kvilhaug said. "She had those moments where she struggled to see the ball against Jacksonville, but she was facing a pitcher that held Florida down for seven innings. She really had just electric stuff, but Ellie adjusted because she was able to see the ball. She slapped, but she also swung away."
The ability to slap hit brandishes a unique weapon for a softball team. Left-handed batters run up to a pitch in motion before they start their swing and simultaneously harness two very different movements. Their lower body is turning up the line at full speed, but their upper body swings through a level plane to literally slap the ball at an opposing infield.Â
It balances both attack and precision, and it forces a defense to rush a play in order to record an out. Slap-hitting lefties are unique hitters in a lineup because they can get on base by hitting to the right side of the diamond, but their speed more easily creates movement into scoring position for the heart of an offense. A slap hitter who can also swing away is then doubly dangerous.
It's why Mataya hit over .400 for the first five games and finished the season as the team's leading hitter at .294. She was the only player with 20 hits on the roster, but a full quarter of her hits went for extra bases. She amassed more total bases than even the team's power hitters and scored a team-high 10 runs with the lowest number of strikeouts among everyday players, and her six stolen bases were double the next highest number on the roster.
She opened the season with a four-game hitting streak that included a three-hit game against Delaware, and her three hits against Nebraska shone through a February slump. She backed up a game against Liberty with a hit against Elon, and it kicked off seven straight games with a hit before the Georgia Tech season opener snapped the streak. Even then, she ended the season with three hits against the Yellow Jackets in the latter two games.'
"(Assistant coach Olivia Watkins) is our slap coach, and she's worked with her on a lot of different things," Kvilhaug said. "There are things like how quickly her feet has to move through the box because sometimes your feet can move too quickly when you want to make contact with a pitch. When you're on your back foot, it's the same as hitting where you have to transfer your weight forward, but it's also the same concept where you want to be ahead of the ball.
"Liv has definitely helped in those areas, but at the end of the day, Ellie's just a good softball player," Kvilhaug said. "She's done a lot of work on her own. She's the kind of player heading into practice by herself to set up the pitching machine and the feeds to go into the batting cage. She'll be by herself, just quietly going about her business to work hard, and that's a combination of different things."
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It turned a potential three-win weekend into a 1-3 record against the two teams, but any disappointment among the Eagles instead transformed into a more rigid determination. They played well in the field, and the bats damaged both teams' pitching with 16 runs across the latter three games.
Individuals succeeded and laid the groundwork for this year's team game. At the top of the order, junior Ellie Mataya's five-game hitting streak that started against North Florida ended, but a subsequent streak started immediately, the third such streak dating back to the abbreviated end of last year.
"Ellie has that really good hand-eye coordination," head coach Amy Kvilhaug said, "and she has a mindset and insight that she just won't freak out (in the box). She has this chip and a chill approach in the box that every single pitch, no matter what the situation is, won't change her mentality. That helps good hitters turn into special hitters, and she adds a little bit of speed into the mix."
Mataya very quietly dominated both the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels with eight hits on the weekend, but she punished individual plate appearances in every game. She went 2-for-4 in both ends of the double header against NC State and stole a bag in each of the three games in Raleigh. UNC, meanwhile, quieted her during Friday's doubleheader, but her single to second in the top of the fifth of the second game advanced a runner into scoring position with one out.
The first game of that doubleheader snapped what was a five game hitting streak after she notched an RBI double against both North Florida and Jacksonville. Those games bookended another 1-for-3 day against the Ospreys that included a walk and a stolen base, and she leads BC with a .387 average.
"There are just some people who see the ball," Kvilhaug said. "She had those moments where she struggled to see the ball against Jacksonville, but she was facing a pitcher that held Florida down for seven innings. She really had just electric stuff, but Ellie adjusted because she was able to see the ball. She slapped, but she also swung away."
The ability to slap hit brandishes a unique weapon for a softball team. Left-handed batters run up to a pitch in motion before they start their swing and simultaneously harness two very different movements. Their lower body is turning up the line at full speed, but their upper body swings through a level plane to literally slap the ball at an opposing infield.Â
It balances both attack and precision, and it forces a defense to rush a play in order to record an out. Slap-hitting lefties are unique hitters in a lineup because they can get on base by hitting to the right side of the diamond, but their speed more easily creates movement into scoring position for the heart of an offense. A slap hitter who can also swing away is then doubly dangerous.
It's why Mataya hit over .400 for the first five games and finished the season as the team's leading hitter at .294. She was the only player with 20 hits on the roster, but a full quarter of her hits went for extra bases. She amassed more total bases than even the team's power hitters and scored a team-high 10 runs with the lowest number of strikeouts among everyday players, and her six stolen bases were double the next highest number on the roster.
She opened the season with a four-game hitting streak that included a three-hit game against Delaware, and her three hits against Nebraska shone through a February slump. She backed up a game against Liberty with a hit against Elon, and it kicked off seven straight games with a hit before the Georgia Tech season opener snapped the streak. Even then, she ended the season with three hits against the Yellow Jackets in the latter two games.'
"(Assistant coach Olivia Watkins) is our slap coach, and she's worked with her on a lot of different things," Kvilhaug said. "There are things like how quickly her feet has to move through the box because sometimes your feet can move too quickly when you want to make contact with a pitch. When you're on your back foot, it's the same as hitting where you have to transfer your weight forward, but it's also the same concept where you want to be ahead of the ball.
"Liv has definitely helped in those areas, but at the end of the day, Ellie's just a good softball player," Kvilhaug said. "She's done a lot of work on her own. She's the kind of player heading into practice by herself to set up the pitching machine and the feeds to go into the batting cage. She'll be by herself, just quietly going about her business to work hard, and that's a combination of different things."
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Players Mentioned
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