A
day with softball pitcher Meredith Cervenka
By Chris Padula
Special to the Daily Forty-Finer
Ever
wondered what a typical day is like for
49er softball’s freshman pitching sensation
Meredith Cervenka? Believe it or not, she
may be one of Long Beach State’s busiest
student athletes.
 Not
only does Cervenka have five classes for
a total of sixteen units, but she is also
an up-and-coming softball pitcher in the
Big West Conference.
After tallying the Big West Conference Pitcher
of the Week honors three times in her first
collegiate softball season, her hard work
ethic remains in full swing all year round.
The off-season involves conditioning and
then hitting the weight room every other
day.
“The conditioning is tough,” Cervenka said.
“The fitness test is what it’s called to
the softball team, which is a hard workout.
The test starts off by running two laps
around the track in under three minutes
and 30 seconds, rest for forty-five seconds,
then run another lap in under one minute
and 30 seconds and rest for another forty-five
seconds.”
Think she is done?
No, now Cervenka goes through circuits,
which she runs back and forth through cones
set up eight yards, sixteen yards and sixty-four
yards away from the initial starting point.
This has to be done in less than forty-five
seconds and then repeated again. If all
this is not enough, Cervenka and the team
finish up with a cool down with an additional
lap needing to be completed in under three
minutes.
Another conditioning drill that Cervenka
and the team do is called dorm room run.
They start at the pool, run by the University
Student Union, the stairs in Brotman Hall,
through east side of campus and then onto
Earl Warren Drive until they hit Atherton
and end at The Pyramid.
Rewinding to the past season, for days leading
up to a home or road game, Cervenka and
the other pitchers, along with the catchers
arrive an hour early to practice.
At this time, Cervenka works on improving
her pitching skills. Practice lasts a few
hours and then Cervenka heads back to her
dorm room to catch up on class readings,
homework, as well as to study.
The day before a game, starts off like any
other for Cervenka, by heading to class
and getting to practice afterward. The team
usually goes through pre-game warm ups,
such as fielding and hitting the ball off
batting tees.
Cervenka observes and cheers for the team
while mentally preparing for tomorrow’s
game. It is difficult for Cervenka to prepare
at times because she is not always sure
if she will pitch, but usually does step
into the circle every other game.
Any athlete knows that sports are mentally
draining, and in her case it is just as
hard.
When game day arrives, Cervenka is focused
and ready to pitch. Is she finds out she
is not going to be the starting pitcher,
Cervenka is in charge of recording every
pitch that is thrown from her teammate.
Cervenka also records a hit chart, which
is what the opposing batters do in all of
their plate appearances.
However, if the game is looking like she
may have to make a relief appearance, Cervenka
must warm up and get loose.
When Cervenka is pitching, like she does
quite often, she tends to keep to herself
and not talk much to maintain her focus.
In addition, she employs another, unusual
way to prepare for a game. Cervenka is negative
toward herself, which makes her mad and
subsequently provides her an incentive to
try to prove herself wrong with whatever
negative thought she may have had in her
head at that specific time.
After games, regardless if it was a home
or road game, Cervenka pretty much sticks
to the same routine. After home games, Cervenka
goes to dinner with her parents and grandparents,
who attend games on a regular basis. After
dinner, she returns to her dorm room to
relax, let the adrenaline down and starts
the homework that needs to be completed.
Road games are a little different because
she goes to a hotel room to clean up and
then go to a team dinner, possibly followed
with a team meeting. Also, on the road,
the have a study hall session for an hour
or two.
“Traveling is tough because I miss a few
days of school at a time in which I fall
behind in class work, and when I get back
from the road trip I get all caught up with
my work, but then leave again on another
road trip causing the same problem over
and over,” Cervenka said.
Evidently, Cervenka is a very busy student
athlete on LBSU’s campus.
With all her hard work this past season,
she finished off with a 20-8 record, 1.48
ERA and struck out 151 batter, second most
for a single season in school history. With
these numbers, Cervenka earned second team
all-conference honors and second team all-region
honors as a freshman.
It is obvious that Cervenka is busy day
in and day out, but with her heart and dedication
to the game of softball, she earned everything
she worked diligently for in her freshman
campaign at LBSU.
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