Sophia Reynoso and Gators head coach Tim Walton discuss strategy during a recent game. (Photo: Mark LoMoglio/For UAA Communications)
Gators SS Reynoso Back in Form After Missing Last Season
Monday, February 27, 2017 | Softball
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Reynoso leads the Gators in hitting and has not made an error defensively.
By: Bianca Cacho, UAA Communications
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The wait was difficult. It was lonely at times. More than anything, it was a roadblock in the way of where Sophia Reynoso wanted to go.
Reynoso is there now, playing shortstop and batting second for the No. 3-ranked Florida softball team despite a pair of torn ACLs in her career, including one that forced Reynoso to miss last season.
Healthy and making her presence known, Reynoso leads the Gators in hitting (.476, 1 HR, 14 RBI) while not making an error in 16 games. Reynoso is no stranger to top-tier competition. She played on elite travel-ball teams most of her life growing up in Palmdale, Calif.
Unfortunately, she is also no stranger to injury.
Reynoso overcame a torn ACL while in high school to draw the interest of Gators head coach Tim Walton. And after Reynoso arrived at UF for her freshman season, she suffered another torn ACL. Her season was over before her first at-bat.
Even while growing up across the country, Reynoso always had her eyes set on putting on the prestigious orange and blue.
Her unique number choice, 74, is derived from her father, who wore the same number for his high school football team in honor of his favorite player, Jack Youngblood.
While on her official visit with the Gators, Reynoso and her family ran into Youngblood, the former Florida star who went on to become an NFL Hall of Famer with the Los Angeles Rams.
That sealed the deal.
Sophia Reynoso is back from a season-ending knee injury and making a difference for the 15-1 Gators softball team. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Reynoso joined the Gators softball team for the 2016 season, looking to prove herself, especially coming off her first torn ACL that occurred during her travel-ball career.
"She might not have always been the most talented, but she will always outwork any one of her peers," teammate Amanda Lorenz said.
Reynoso worked diligently to return from her first injury and earn an opportunity to play at UF. When she suffered the second torn ACL, the road map to recovery was already in her head.
Still, making a comeback was no walk in the park for Reynoso.
"There was one fall morning where we had to run and it wasn't a good morning for me," Reynoso said. "That was kind of a wake-up call that I wasn't where I needed to be and where I wanted to be."
She went to work, driven by the quest to return to full-speed and not lose a step on the field.
"She had no life, consistently working hard trying to get back." Lorenz said.
As Reynoso prepared for her sophomore season, she was on a mission. If not in class, you could find her in the training room receiving treatment. She often did homework during her rehab.
Reynoso impressed others with her ability to focus on a goal and overcome the second major setback of her softball career.
"I think her whole mindset to life really is refreshing," Gators coach Tim Walton said. "To watch her come out here and compete, but do it with a smile."
A smile that her teammates look to for support.
Reynoso is a leader on the team despite her relative inexperience. She lost a season as a player, but not a year of being a teammate. It doesn't take long to notice how Reynoso carries herself with grace and confidence.
Her teammates' respect comes naturally.
"I'm sure if you ask every girl on the team who their favorite person is, they're going to say Sophia," Lorenz said.
Reynoso's positive approach has also impacted Florida's coaching staff.
She recently purchased a ping-pong table from a local sporting goods store. However, the table proved to be too big to fit into her car and too heavy for her to carry. She called on Walton for help.
Walton said he chuckled the whole way home thinking about the confidence and determination it required for a freshman to call their coach in that situation.
"I have a saying," Walton said. "There's no such thing as bad hops, just bad infielders. Sophia always tells me there's no such thing as bad hops, just bad coaches hitting infield ground balls. For a young kid to have that kind of savvy and that kind of confidence, who wouldn't want to coach a kid like that?"
The Gators are 15-1 after winning five games at the Citrus Classic over the weekend. Next up is a trip to California, where Reynoso, Lorenz, second baseman Nicole DeWitt, pitcher Delanie Gourley and catcher Janell Wheaton call home.
Reynoso admits she does not always have the best days but is determined to show everyone that even when faced with adversity, she will always give her all to the team. The Gators are her family away from home.
"She's not the tallest, she's not the fastest, not the strongest, but yet she's got heart, she's got passion, she's got toughness, she's got energy,'' Walton said. "She plays with a motor that just doesn't stop."
The season is young for the Gators, but as they attempt to return to the Women's College World Series, Reynoso is definitely a player to watch.
This season and beyond.
"Coach Walton always reminds me to just do what I do because I know how to play and I can't try to play like someone that I'm not,'' she said. "I feel like trying to make an extra statement is going to be something that I'm not, so I just do what I do and it works out that way."
