Pratt puts more fun into game

There was a time when Marci Pratt questioned whether or not she would continue to play college softball.

The reason wasn't for a lack of production, though.

Pratt, a three-time Deseret Morning News Class 5A all-stater at Taylorsville High, was very successful at Dixie State College. Her sophomore season she started 50 games and hit .401 with a team-high 12 homers and a team-high 60 RBIs, earning her third-team NJCAA All-American honors as well as being named the team's MVP.

In her two years, the Rebels were 87-18-2, and they finished eighth in the NJCAA national tournament her sophomore year.

During a two-month period before enrolling at Southern Utah University, she figured out what was ailing her.

"For that two months I was stressed and wasn't having fun. I lost a little bit of the love for the game for a little while," she said. "I decided it should be fun and I shouldn't stress. This year, I've put more fun into the game."

Good decision.

"I decided this was something I always wanted to do — play Division I college softball," she said. "(I realized) it might take a little longer to get through it (the tough times). It was a goal I set, and I wanted to accomplish it."

Now, at SUU, Pratt is having more than fun. She's having a blast in more than one way.

Not only is the 5-foot-6 third baseman/catcher having fun, she's leading the nation in triples (13), while leading the Mid-Continent Conference in a half-dozen offensive categories and the team in 11 more. The T-Birds clinched their third straight Mid-Con regular season title two weeks, and she's making a strong case for Mid-Con Player of the Year.

"I'm really happy I stuck with it. It was a time in my life there was a boulder in the way, and I needed to get through it. As a person I learned from it," she said.

Following SUU's Mid-Con finale at Oakland University (Mich.), she's hitting .391 with 12 doubles, 13 triples (five of which came two weeks ago), 13 homers and 57 RBIs. She's scored 50 runs and 79 hits. Her hits, triples, homers, RBIs, runs scored and total bases (156) are all single-season school records.

Defensively, Pratt, who is just one of three players to start all 61 games, has committed a combined 10 errors at third and catcher.

"I found it (the love for the game) now," she said.