Stephanie Compton, Guest Writer
What would make someone leave the beautiful sandy beaches of Hawaii to come to rainy and cold Washington? The love of the game. And for senior Tori Hamura, that game is softball.
You wouldn’t know it now, but Hamura didn’t always have an intense passion for softball, especially when she began playing at the age of seven.
“It was kind of hard at the beginning, I didn’t really like it, but as I got older, I started to like it more and more,” Hamura said.
One thing that she has always loved about softball is the social aspect of the game. Her favorite part of softball is “playing with the girls on the team and building friendships with them.”
As a first-year, Hamura was a part of the 2012 National Championship team that set a record for wins in a season with 45.
She is now the team captain of the 2015 Lutes, but her transition from a first-year champion to a senior leader hasn’t always been smooth.
The Lutes softball team has had three new coaches in the last three years with the new arrival of coach Lance Glasoe this year.
“[The transition] was really tough for me… it taught me that I have to be flexible and accept whatever comes at me,” Hamura said.
The transitions may have been rough on Hamura, but they have not been rough on her playing. From starting in only 2 out of 16 games her first-year season with a batting average of .200, Hamura then started 35 out of 38 games her junior season and hit an overall of .320 in 100 at bats.
Her senior seasons looks just as promising but with a minor injury in the first double-header of the season, Hamura may have to lead the team from the dugout for a short time.
Hamura’s hand in Lute softball may not end after this season, as she may come back next year as an assistant coach.
If she doesn’t coach next year, she plans to stay in Washington and find a job related to her major of exercise science.
No matter what happens in Tori Hamura’s final season as a Lute, she will leave her mark on her younger teammates, and she will leave as a National Champion.
