The Oregon tale: Wolf bursts back on scene

By GREG WAGNER
Valley Press Staff Writer

But it has done little to derail her softball career.

Antelope Valley College right fielder Traci Wolf hasn't let nearly a year off from the game detract from her play. The homesick freshman left AVC after fall ball in 2006 only to return this season and become the Foothill Conference Player of the Year.

"I guess it's something I'll never lose," Wolf said.

Wolf's parents moved to Grants Pass, Ore., after she graduated from Quartz Hill High School in 2006. She tried to give college life at AVC without her family a go, but found it too difficult being so far away.

"They were supporting her through everything and then one day they weren't there anymore," AVC center fielder and close friend Alaina Devenney said. "(Going to Oregon) is what she needed."

Wolf left AVC and its softball team after the fall semester and moved to Grants Pass, where she went to nearby Rogue Community College. Problem was, there wasn't a softball program at that school, leaving Wolf without the one part of her life she's known since elementary school.

Wolf matured while back with her parents and decided to give living away from them another shot. She returned to the Valley last summer to make it on her own, but also to play softball again.

"I thought I was going to miss it but didn't know I'd miss it as much as I did," Wolf said.

Whenever they could sneak in a batting session or find time to throw the ball around, Wolf practiced with her dad in Oregon. That was it as far as softball went, leading Wolf, who had a chance to go to NAIA Southern Oregon for softball, to return to fall ball at AVC after a nine-month gap of playing in a team setting.

It was as if she hadn't left.

"She took a long time off, but didn't look like it," pitcher Shannon Barnhill said.

Wolf's speed and bat earned her the Marauders' leadoff spot. She's gone on to lead the team with 48 runs and 30 steals and has an on-base percentage of .500.

Wolf says the success after such a long layoff came as a surprise to her. Few others share a similar opinion.

"She wasn't rusty at all," coach Cindy Vargas said. "When you're an all-around athlete it's not hard to do, it will come back to you."

By all accounts, even with the layoff, Wolf is said to be a better player than she was as a senior Quartz Hill. That's saying something considering longtime Rebels coach Ben Meyer anointed her "probably the best right fielder we ever had."

Once Wolf got back into softball in the fall, she couldn't stop. She not only practiced with her AVC teammates, but took part in a fastpitch men's league.

Playing on a Palmdale-based team with boyfriend and Marauders outfielder Jake Wood and his father, Wolf found another way to improve her game.

"The fact (men) are probably not as accurate and kind of wild made me probably more selective in pitches that I take," said Wolf, who is tied for the Marauders' team lead with 17 walks.

Wolf said she was the only girl she knew of who took part in the league.

"A girl who can play with the boys," Vargas said, "you know they're an athlete."

Take one look at her batting stance and it's clear she's also a team player.

Wolf is right-handed, but has always been infatuated with hitting from the left side. That setup not only uses her speed, but she just likes being able to do something most others can't.

The outfielder hit from the left side at Quartz Hill, but AVC coaches insist she bat as a righty to bring about her power stroke.

Begrudgingly at first, she took to the right side - earlier this year Wolf began an at-bat on the left side before assistant coach Mike Vargas yelled at her to switch back after one swing - but now Wolf has seemingly endorsed the move.

"If that's what they feel is better for the team then that's what I need to do," she said. "I hope that if someone else was in a situation like that they would do something for the team rather than themselves."

Wolf still misses being away from her parents and relishes the few chances they get to make it to her games - both are scheduled to watch this weekend's Southern California Super Regionals at Mount San Antonio - but, with a desire to earn a Division I scholarship after next season, she knew living away from them was a step she had to take.

The year in Oregon, though, gave her a chance to adjust college life still living with her parents and come back to the Valley better prepared for life by herself.

"She doesn't have too many of those moods," Cindy Vargas said. "She's just a happier kid and that shows in her game."

And AVC's.

gwagner@avpress.com