Kornacki: Blanco Having Breakout Season in Five-Hole
4/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2016
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan sophomore first baseman Tera Blanco was challenged by Coach Carol Hutchins with a move up to the middle of the batting order this season.
Blanco has responded, too, taking off in the No. 5 spot in the batting order behind Sierra Lawrence, Sierra Romero, Kelly Christner and Kelsey Susalla. Blanco is a big reason why the Wolverines rank second in the nation with 8.3 runs per game.
"That's her job in the five-hole," said Hutchins. "That's what the five-hole does. I told her, 'We need you to move up.' But she's done a great job. With people getting on base as much as the top of my order does, you've got a lot of opportunity to get RBIs, and I think she relishes that."
Blanco's two-run, bases-loaded single in the first inning got Michigan going in its 9-1 run-rule win over Maryland on a chilly Friday evening (April 22) at Alumni Field. That gave her 47 RBI, equaling her total from 67 games last year in the 39th game this season.
"It definitely made me see a lot better pitches," Blanco said of batting fifth. "That kind of made me more comfortable. And also, just moving from my freshman to my sophomore season, I was a more comfortable player, and I understood the game more.
"Just being comfortable is why I'm so successful right now."
She was down, 1-2, in the count in the first inning and didn't try doing too much with the pitch. Blanco simply got the bat on the ball and punched it up the middle and past diving Terrapins second baseman Corey Schwartz.
"It wasn't very pretty," said Blanco. "It was really ugly actually, but the umpire had a pretty big (strike) zone to start off with. So, I just knew I had to swing at anything close."
Blanco walked in her other two plate appearances, pushing her on-base percentage to .542 and an improvement over the .431 she posted as a freshman.
Her .420 batting average is quite an increase from the respectable .291 last season for a national championship runner-up team.
However, her hefty .710 slugging percentage marks her largest jump up from .436 in 2015. Blanco's six homers are one away from last year's total, and her doubles have tripled from three to nine.
She is second to Romero in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and RBI. And Romero is generally considered among college softball's greatest hitters ever.
Ask Blanco about these statistical improvements, and she just smiles and holds her hands up.
"Me, personally, I don't look at my batting average," said Blanco. "Like, my dad is all into it, and everybody's all into it. But I just feel better, and like I said, I'm more comfortable, and it's okay to make mistakes. I think last year I was so caught up in being afraid to make a mistake that they happened so often."
It wasn't easy feeling comfortable coming into a formidable lineup and being the only freshman starting as a position player. But Blanco knows now that she belongs in every way.
Hutchins said, "She's very capable. She believes in herself. Her confidence is high. I talk a lot about a kid's confidence, and her confidence at the plate is right where we want it to be."
Blanco's father, Jeff, coached the Firecrackers, a travel team she played on that won the 16-and-under Premier Girls Fastpitch title in 2011. He's had a big influence on her approach and work ethic.
"My dad was always there for me," said Blanco, a three-time all-state selection at Huntington Beach (Calif.) Marina High. "He always wanted me to get better, and I never understood that as a kid. I was, 'Why do we always have to go do this?' But now, looking back at it, it made me so much better, and it made me the player I am today.
"He always sends me really long texts before the game, and I love them. They are supporting me even when I have a bad game."
She said her father's main message "was putting in the extra work and instilling that extra work will pay off."
Blanco said extra batting practice is a staple of her daily approach.
"On game days," she said, "I take a lot of cuts because I want to be loose. And I like to go in before practice and hit a little bit. Our volunteer assistant coach throws BP to us, and I go hit off of her.
"I try to (hit) everything up the middle, and it's easier to adjust that way. Thinking about hitting the ball up the middle helps me get in a good rhythm."
Blanco also works on her defense and pitching.
She's the No. 3 starter behind Megan Betsa, who threw a one-hitter Friday to win her 17th game, and Sara Driesenga (16-0). Blanco is 2-1 with a 2.49 ERA.
"I either come in before (practice) to pitch or get my pitching in while they're doing defense," said Blanco. "Then I come in for the later part of defense."
Blanco works on "moving my feet better" on defense in order to reach more balls and has a perfect fielding percentage with 184 putouts and 18 assists.
That's a lot for one player to handle, but Blanco also contributes to the atmosphere at games. She got the wave started in the later innings with reserve catcher Lauren Connell.
"Me and L.C. do that pretty much every game," said Blanco. "We started doing that late last year, and it just carried over."
So, Blanco gets the crowd going with big hits and a big wave. She does it all for Hutchins, who has a keeper in the five-hole.
