Dream comes true for Banister

Former Petaluma High star part of University of Arizona's NCAA championship softball team

June 14, 2006

By JOHN JACKSON

ARGUS-COURIER SPORTS EDITOR

"It was a dream come true," says Sam Banister, who isn't sure she's not still dreaming after the University of Arizona Wildcats won the NCAA softball championship. Banister, a freshman just one spring removed from leading the Petaluma High School Lady Trojans into the NCS championship game, was still hoarse from the excitement of it all as she packed for the drive home from Tempe last week.

"It is the most incredible feeling of my life," she says.

Banister played herself into the Wildcat starting lineup at first base early in the season, but a fluke injury sidelined her for more than a month, and when she was healthy enough to come back, the Wildcats had the lineup set that would carry them to the ultimate of the collegiate world.

She did what she could.

"My role was to help keep the team up and positive. I had to stay positive for the team," she explains.

Banister definitely stayed positive. Her enthusiasm was captured for all the world, and seemingly most of Petaluma, to see on ESPN-TV. She developed a following from fans who didn't recognize her as one of the Redwood Empire's top high school players just a year ago.

Arizona claimed the national championship with a 5-1 World Series record that included back-to-back shutout pitching wins by Alicia Hollowell, 8-0 and 5-0, over the Northwestern Wildcats in the finals.

On its way to the finals, Arizona beat Oregon State and Texas, lost to Tennessee, and then came back to beat the Vols to earn a spot in the best-of-three series against Northwestern that determined the national champion.

Banister had just three at bats in the playoffs, but being a part of the excitement was a thrill.

"Just being at the World Series and seeing what it was all about was incredible," she says.

From the NCS playoffs to the NCAA playoffs in one year is a huge step for any athlete.

"I didn't know if I could play at this level. It is a whole different world," she admits. "Playing in the Pac-10 means you're facing the best pitchers in the nation."

She says one of the things that aided her as she faced those pitchers was the vision testing and hand-eye coordination drills that are key components of Wildcat practice. "That really helped," she says.

While she was learning about how to be a college softball player, Banister was also learning how to be a college freshman.

"I was nervous being on my own," she admits. "It is a whole learning experience. You have to grow up and basically be an adult."

Banister adjusted to both softball and classroom life well enough to hit and play her way into the Arizona starting lineup, no small feat for a freshman on a senior-dominated team.

Then, just as she was beginning to feel comfortable as a starter, she attempted to awkwardly grab a relay from the outfield and fell onto the pitching rubber, partially collapsing a lung.

The pain of the injury was nothing compared to the hurt of inactivity while she waited to heal. "It was really hard on me," she says. "I was really depressed. I had worked my whole life to get here and then I couldn't play."

Because of the lung injury, Banister was prohibited from flying, so she couldn't even travel with the team when it came north to play in her home area against Cal and Stanford.

Fully recovered, Banister is looking forward to a summer at home with a new adult perspective on life, although now she will have to reset her goals.

As she explains, her goals at the start of this season were:

1) Be on the team.

2) Get into starting lineup.

3) Win the national championship.

For Sam Banister, it was all missions accomplished.