Beaubien Displays Mental Toughness in the Circle, Leads NCAA in Wins
4/11/2018 11:33:00 PM | Softball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Meghan Beaubien, the freshman softball pitcher with the quick yet smooth delivery, pushed her NCAA-leading victory total to 24 against just two losses in Wednesday's (April 11) 1-0 victory over Michigan State.
The University of Michigan ace dominated the Spartans with a cool confidence that's exhibited in everything she does, whether it's working with catcher Katie Alexander or jogging off the field after third outs.
She begins her trip to the dugout by removing her facemask and nodding her head all the way in. Beaubien will connect first with Alexander just up the first base line and then continue slapping gloves and high-fives with every teammate and some coaches.
Beaubien is smiling all the way, and none of it's for show. Being a magnet for her teammates to pull together behind just comes naturally for her.
Mental toughness is at the root of it all.
"It's the most important part of the game," said Wolverines coach Carol Hutchins. "I mean, talent will take you only a certain distance in our game, in the big girls' game. And the ability to focus in on one pitch at a time, to trust your coach that calls the game, trust your teammates to play behind you, and not get caught up in all the distractions that go with it.
"And so Meghan has just come in and done a fantastic job all year. She's been pretty consistent. And she has moments, but the one thing I like is that it doesn't take a whole lot to get her out of that."
Hutchins was required to make one trip to the circle to get Beaubien back to a razor-sharp focus. MSU had just gotten a two-out infield hit in the sixth inning, and Beaubien fell behind Katie Quinlan with a 3-1 count.
Asked about her message, Hutchins smiled and said, "I don't know if I can repeat it. I just basically said, 'Throw it by her.' I thought she was going to take the next pitch for sure. But it was just to go out and attack them. The pressure's on them. And we all know that a pitcher like Meghan, she has the advantage. So, she has to trust that and not get caught up in the what-ifs.
"And a lot of times pitchers can pitch ahead -- meaning they're not going after that hitter. They are worried about the person on deck, and that would be distracting and that wouldn't be mentally tough. So, Katie can reel her in when she has a moment when she gets off (track)."
Two pitches later, Quinlan went down swinging, and the inning was over. Beaubien set down the Spartans' 3-4-5 hitters in order in the seventh to close out her eighth shutout.
That mental toughness came through once again. I asked her for the source of that.
"My parents have always taught me that if you give up a walk or a hit or a home run you just can't quit," said Beaubien. "'That's not how it works. You're never going to be great that way.' So, you have to rebound and be tougher than the batter and tougher than everyone else. I was just taught that since I was younger."
Beaubien allowed two hits with zero walks, struck out seven, and had only one fly ball hit to the outfield over seven innings. She never let the Spartans see her sweat, and that plays into deflating the confidence of opponents just as surely as it raises the confidence of her teammates.
She's pitched this way for quite a while.
Beaubien was one of the best high school softball players the state of Michigan has ever produced. She had a banner career at Monroe Saint Mary Catholic Central, leading the Kestrels to three state championships as a three-time Gatorade Player of the Year in the state. She was the Detroit Athletic Club Female Athlete of the Year as a senior, pitched a perfect game in the state championship game as a junior, was named All-America for the first of three times as a sophomore, and was selected all-state for the first of four times as a freshman.
She finished 100-11 with 1,442 strikeouts, and for good measure she was a two-time captain and class valedictorian.
You'd think a kid like that was a steamroller from birth, but she remembers a game when she couldn't throw a strike and credits that with the beginning of building mental toughness.
"I was in like the fifth grade," said Beaubien. "I started a game, and people (already) knew I was pretty good at that point. But I walked like four batters in a row. Then I walked five, I walked six. And guys are crossing the plate, and I got taken out.
"I was really, really upset. I just cried, and it was a doubleheader. And the coach is like, 'Now, you're starting the next game.' I was upset, and my mom was like, 'There's nothing you can do about it now.' So, I was like, 'She's right.' And I did much better the next game."
Beaubien has given up more than two runs in a game just once all season, and she went the distance and beat Baylor, 6-3, in that game. Her earned run average is 0.79, and she has struck out 176 in 142 1/3 innings. She's notched two no-hitters.
What's she doing best right now?
"I think I'm pretty happy with my approach to batters," said Beaubien. "I have moments, but overall I'm doing a better job of trusting myself and attacking batters."
Beaubien and Alexander developed a quick rapport.
"She's such a competitive person," said Alexander, "and she understands that I'm just there to help her, and we really are working together to get this done. We're really good friends off the field, too, and so that helps. Everyone on the team, we're like best friends, and so having that connection really helps."
Beaubien said: "Katie's awesome as a catcher and as a person. She's somebody who you can always talk to about anything, and she's very calming. So, when I'm out there with Katie, I know she's got my back, and if I get a little stressed or off, she's out there and is really reassuring. She's a fantastic teammate."
When Alexander made a circle visit Wednesday at Alumni Field, her message connected with Beaubien.
Beaubien said, "Tonight, she told me, 'You were born to do this.' And I thought that was really cool because I wanted to be here for so long. She said, 'You love this. You want to do this.' And I was like, 'I do.' And it kind of gets you back to the right mindset."
She attended her first Michigan game eight years ago -- an NCAA Super Regional game with Tennessee -- and committed to the Wolverines before ever throwing a pitch in high school.
"I'd never been to a softball game with so many people," Beaubien recalled, "and they were so good. It was Michigan, and I was a Michigan fan, and it was instant. It was like, 'This is awesome.'"
Her favorite player was a left-handed pitcher just like her.
"I loved watching Haylie Wagner pitch," said Beaubien. "She was a lefty. I like lefties. I liked her a lot. She was awesome to watch."
Wagner (2012-15) has the third-most wins (100) and second-best winning percentage (.848) of any Wolverine hurler. She was an All-American as a freshman and made the NCAA Women's College World Series all-tournament team as a senior, pitching Michigan all the way to the championship game with off-the-charts mental toughness.
Beaubien hopes to someday take Michigan to that showcase event in Oklahoma City, too, and do great things there. That's part of the dream, and it's one that's attainable for players who never back down and find a way to focus when most would not.
