It’s been over a year since the nationally-recognized Chico State softball team has collectively taken the field. With the long, drawn-out COVID pandemic, the urgency for the players to keep their mental and physical skills sharp has posed quite the challenge. But don’t tell that to Angel Lopez—the Wildcats’ dynamic second baseman has worked hard to make productive use of her downtime, using the same unbridled energy she exhibits on the softball diamond to prepare for the day when the ’Cats get the green light to return to play. Her dedication to the game—and her team—makes Lopez the latest Wildcat of the Week.
“Without softball, I feel kind of lost,” Lopez said. “I’m used to going to practice or going to games or working out consistently. When the pandemic hit, I thought ‘how do I deal with all this free time?’ So I’ve used the time to concentrate on my schoolwork, and going to the gym has really helped me to keep my mind off things. Just staying in shape helps me to get ready for next season.”
A career .283 hitter with four home runs and 13 extra-base hits as a Wildcat, Lopez has not let the disappointments of the past 12 months get her down. She does admit, though, that the cancellation of the 2020 season—which abruptly ended with Chico State leading the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a 19-2 record and owning the nation’s No. 2 ranking—was a tough pill to swallow.
“I feel like we had it in the bag,” Lopez said. “Our chemistry was really strong—good offense, good defense and great pitching. It was really sad (the season was cut short) because I knew how far we could’ve gone. I look back on it and get bummed because I feel like we could’ve gotten to the NCAA Championships and won the whole thing.”
In May, Lopez returned home to Southern California and spent a good part of the summer sharing her softball skills with several up-and-coming young players.
“I started giving hitting lessons in my backyard,” Lopez said. “I worked with players from eight to 17 years old. The age group I was around the most was eight to 10 year olds.
“We would also do conditioning and agility drills. I got along with them really well. In fact, they were really sad when I had to go back to school. I was really sad, too. I enjoyed doing that.”
Asked if the experience had her considering coaching after her softball career was over, Lopez said it was a possibility. “I’ve definitely thought about coaching,” she admitted, “but I don’t know yet if I want to go that route.”
Returning to Chico in the fall, Lopez dove into her studies, but still found time to do a little COVID-related community work.
“We walked around downtown Chico passing out masks to other students,” Lopez said. “We also gave out flyers with information on what to do and who to call if they had symptoms.”
Lopez has handled the transition to virtual classes fairly easily, but it’s not her preferred method of learning.
“I’ve adjusted, but for me I like to be in-person instead of looking at a computer screen all day,” Lopez said. “It’s hard to be on a Zoom meeting all day, and then do homework on top of it. Luckily, I don’t run into too many distractions studying at home. I make sure to be alone in my room, and that helps me focus pretty well.”
Lopez has also used the downtime to concentrate on her workout regimen.
“The quarantine put me on a slight pause with my max weight,” she said. “After the gyms closed, I’d do at-home workouts with dumbbells and barbells. I’d go running with my dog. I’d try to get some sort of workout in. Right now I’m going to In Motion Fitness to work out, and I’m finally getting back to the max weight I used to have.”
Lopez has had no trouble staying in contact with her Wildcat teammates. Two of them are her roommates, while several others live in the same apartment complex, so Lopez has plenty of opportunities for socially-distanced get-togethers. She’s also using the Internet to stay totally connected to her fellow ’Cats.
“We have team meetings on Zoom and stay in touch on Snapchat,” Lopez said. “And of course, we all have each other’s phone numbers and can text each other.”
Still, it doesn’t quite replace some of the everyday college experiences that Lopez enjoyed pre-pandemic.
“I definitely miss the morning workouts,” she said. “I miss running around Acker Gym and seeing people. I really miss being inside the building; being in the athletic training room. I miss being able to be on campus and in class with a real lecture. I kind of took those things for granted before COVID.”
In between studying and working out, Lopez has found some time for fun.
“I bought a Playstation and started gaming again,” she said. “I play Call of Duty with my friends. Also MLB The Show with my mom and stepdad. We also played a board game called ‘Sequence’—that brings out a whole different competitive side of me.
“I’ve been re-watching TV shows, like Keeping Up With the Kardashians. I started all the seasons again. I’ve also been watching The Vampire Diaries on Netflix.”
Along with her Wildcat teammates, Lopez held out hope over the fall that the pandemic would subside enough to salvage some kind of season in 2021. But of course, it was not to be.
“Seeing the other conferences playing [the two other NCAA West Region conferences, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the Pacific West Conference, elected to return to action in late February], I thought there could be a way to do some sort of competition within the CCAA,” Lopez said. “Our team has worked so hard. Was there was anything the student-athletes could have done to get a season going? I wish we could have done something for our seniors (Sam Mulock and Kristin Worley) to have them go out with a bang.
“But we just have to move on and get ready for next season.”
Lopez, who still has two years of athletic eligibility remaining, is set to return to the Chico State softball team in 2022, as well as graduating with a kinesiology degree at the end of the season. As for 2023, fans will have to wait and see if the diminutive dynamo—a key part of the team’s success—will be back to energize the Wildcats for another season.
“I might try and get into the master’s program here and play that final season,” Lopez said. “But I’m not quite sure yet what I’m going to do with that last year of eligibility.”
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