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Date Posted: 01:17:04 04/28/02 Sun
Author: Jon Ralston
Subject: Boni Kading

Here is an article on softball player Boni Kading. Also, the Tigers won both games against Long Beach today.

Originally Published Saturday, April 27, 2002
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tiger does what she can to help team win

By Bob Highfill

Record Staff Writer

Boni Kading was in terrible shape on Sunday. The versatile sophomore was hacking and wheezing between pitches from her post at first base and generally just feeling awful.

But in the eighth inning of an important Big West Conference game with then-No. 7 Cal State Fullerton, she made herself feel much better.

Kading lined the first pitch from All-American Gina Oaks into the gap in right-center field, and pinch runner Krystle Peterson scored from first to give the Tigers a thrilling 1-0 victory in the rubber game of a three-game series.

''We took two,'' Kading said Sunday. ''It felt like the World Series. This was all that mattered.''

Pacific (36-13, 16-2) moved up a spot to No. 17 in the national poll and is alone in first place, three games ahead of the ninth-ranked Titans (41-11, 13-2) in the win column. The Tigers, who have won 15 of 16, will have a difficult time holding onto the lead this weekend. They're at Long Beach State (35-17, 13-5) for a three-game series -- a doubleheader at 1 p.m. today and a single game at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Cal State Fullerton will play host to last-place UC Riverside (10-37, 1-14) this weekend.

''It's in our hands and we have two extremely tough series to end the season, and Fullerton has the lower half down the stretch,'' said Pacific coach Brian Kolze, whose team will end the regular season May 4-5 at home against Cal State Northridge (23-22, 8-10). ''Everybody has to play everybody sometime, and no matter what happens, we've put ourselves in this position because of our success.''

Kading has been a major contributor to the Tigers' success.

After playing exclusively in right field as a freshman, she's played three positions this season: right field, first base and catcher. For the past week or so, a nasty virus has dampened her spirits but not her competitiveness.

''I was feeling like I was going to be sick out there at first,'' Kading said. ''Thank God I wasn't.''

The Tigers were thankful, too, especially after the game-winning hit that raised Kading's RBI total to 28, already 11 more than last season.

''Boni has fit into the system because she really wanted an opportunity to prove herself,'' Kolze said. ''Out of club ball (with the Orange County Batbusters), she was underrated and never had a defined role.

''We brought her in to play outfield and do a little catching, but we had two senior catchers her freshman year. She played a lot of first base in high school, and because of injuries, we've had to settle her in at first base. She's starting to feel more comfortable at first.''

Kading's role is more defined now that Kolze and assistant coach Heather Tarr settled on a lineup weeks after freshman Kristen Allen suffered a season-ending knee injury. The domino effect initially was severe, as Kolze and Tarr shuffled players like pieces on a chess board.

''I'm still feeling my vibe,'' said Kading, who drives a yellow Volkswagen and prefers tie dye to Versace. ''I really feel confident, and I feel the coaches are really behind me.''

Looking back

Pacific needed only four pitches to take two games from Cal State Fullerton last weekend. In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, Barbara Moody hit the first pitch from Christy Robitaille to score two runs, then Estee Okumura hit Robitaille's first pitch to the right-field wall to plate Moody with the game-winning run.

Sunday, Cindy Ball opened the eighth by bouncing the first pitch from Oaks into center field to break up a perfect game. Kading hit the next pitch into right-center to bring home the winning run.

What about the Beach?

Long Beach State is in third place and has won four consecutive games with the Big West's best defense -- a .971 fielding percentage. Arleigh Thorp leads the team with a .315 batting average and is third in the conference in hits with 53, and Meredith Cervenka is 20-4 with a 1.38 ERA.

* To reach reporter Bob Highfill, phone 546-8299 or e-mail bhighfil@recordnet.com

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