{"id":3325,"date":"2018-06-28T14:05:27","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T18:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=3325"},"modified":"2023-08-04T09:29:46","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T13:29:46","slug":"pitch-perfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/pitch-perfect\/","title":{"rendered":"Pitch Perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Amanda Riley \u201918 has always gravitated toward leadership roles. A team captain in softball and cheerleading at John C. Kimball High School in Tracy, California, she took her softball career across the country to Monmouth and experienced tremendous success through her first three seasons.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<header><span style=\"color: #7a7978\">Do You Smell What The Rock Is Cooking?<\/span><\/header>\n<p>Asked who she would most like to have dinner with, Riley quickly named Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he\u2019s hilarious and very wise,\u201d says Riley. \u201cI admire his work ethic and I\u2019m sure he\u2019d keep me laughing the entire time, so it would be a fun dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Riley was determined to make her final year a memorable one. She was certain that if the Hawks were to soar to new heights, scoreless innings and strikeout totals would not be enough. To have a greater impact on the field, Riley felt the need to look inward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI focused on building my confidence,\u201d says Riley. \u201cCoach Shannon (Salsburg) and Marisa (DeStasio) really emphasize the mental game. Negative thoughts are common in athletes and part of improving confidence is understanding and targeting weaknesses. I became a more focused, confident pitcher and that was important because players feed off the pitcher\u2019s presence. I think it made a difference for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The difference she references spawned a historic outcome. Monmouth captured its first-ever Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship, and with that title, qualified for the 2018 NCAA Division I Softball Championship Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawks competed at the University of Tennessee to cap a storybook season with an overall record of 32-16. Riley posted a mark of 21-7 and was named MAAC Pitcher of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s called the pitcher\u2019s \u201ccircle,\u201d but it could also be referred to as the \u201cpodium.\u201d Perhaps no team sport relies on one position more than softball does its pitcher, and it\u2019s a perfect spot for Riley.<\/p>\n<p>Her competitive and compassionate nature, seasoned by a West Coast perspective, empowered her to bring out the best in her teammates. (That, and a dominant pitching repertoire.) While leadership seminars and courses saturate the professional market today, Riley boils it down to a simple, holistic approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeadership is about getting to know people,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you want to lead a group, you need to talk to them and learn about them. That is the only way to determine how to motivate an individual. Above all, you need to show them that you truly care about them, and you care about the team more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Riley certainly left her mark at Monmouth. She finished her career as the all-time program leader in strikeouts (666), innings pitched (691.2), and saves (10), and ranks third in wins (55). Having graduated with a degree in business marketing and management and a minor in IT, Riley says she will take her time on the road trip back home to California before beginning the next phase of her life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI loved my time here at Monmouth,\u201d says Riley. \u201cCoach Shannon and Marisa had a huge impact on how I developed as a person. I\u2019m so blessed and grateful that I came here and leave confident and prepared to take on my next challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amanda Riley capped her record-breaking collegiate career by leading the Hawks to a historic season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":3328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":53,\"y\":32}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[94,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","category-play"],"thumbnail":"<img width=\"204\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-204x300.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-3328 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\" style=\"object-position:53% 32%\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-204x300.jpg 204w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-768x1132.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-695x1024.jpg 695w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-1120x1650.jpg 1120w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-560x825.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-280x413.jpg 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-320x471.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-640x943.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-2800x4125.jpg 2800w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-2048x3017.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-1536x2263.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-1400x2063.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-1024x1509.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-828x1220.jpg 828w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-360x530.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21-9x13.jpg 9w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/06\/20-Amanda-Riley-ANTHONY-DEPRIMO-21.jpg 3000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 204px) 100vw, 204px\" \/>","catString":"Athletics, Play","issue":"Summer 2018","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3325"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18000,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3325\/revisions\/18000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}