Willmon provides pop at the top

Lindsey Willmon freely acknowledges she joined the Hawaii softball program "without a plan."

"I came in here just knowing I’m going to play wherever (UH coach Bob Coolen) wants me," Willmon said.

So a catcher who hit in the middle of the lineup through high school now finds herself starting in the outfield with a spot atop the Rainbow Wahine batting order 16 games into her freshman season.

"Doing all this stuff, leading off and playing outfield, everything’s new to me," Willmon said. "But it’s working, so I’m never complaining. I’m enjoying myself."

Willmon had never hit leadoff at any level until Coolen moved her to the top of the lineup card against Seattle during the Easton Desert Classic in Las Vegas. She homered on her first swing and brings an aggressive presence to the spot.

Willmon was hitting .263 while occupying spots in the lower third of the order in Hawaii’s seven games before Coolen made the move. She’s hit .354 over the nine games since, with two doubles and five home runs spread among her 11 hits during that span. She’s hit safely in the past six games.

Willmon’s notion of a leadoff hitter’s role had been shaped by watching her older sister, Kirsten, a left-handed slap hitter who is off to a .390 start to her senior year at UC San Diego.

"She’s 5-6 and an outfielder. So in my mind lefty, fast runners were leadoff (hitters)," Willmon said.

Where she now shares the same role as her sister, Lindsey (at 5 feet 8) hasn’t altered her approach at the plate, continuing to swing for power from the right side.

"You get a good pitch, you hit it. It doesn’t really matter where you are in the lineup," Willmon said. "Being leadoff, everybody makes a big deal about it, but to me it’s just another spot. Put me anywhere and I’m going to play the same way."

Willmon has speed and has proven herself a reliable fielder whether in left or center field.

She had demonstrated her comfort for change well before enrolling at UH. Raised in Elk Grove, Calif., just south of Sacramento, Willmon moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for a year to finish high school with one of her best friends.

"We played (club softball) together and decided it would be fun to go to school together for senior year," Willmon said earlier this season. "It was a good opening to college. It helped me now when I’m here and it’s not as hard as some other kids who are away from their parents. I feel a little more like I know what to do."

Willmon still calls Northern California home and will see some familiar faces across the field this week, having played with and against several players on the California roster.

"It’s cool to see them and play against them," Willmon said, "to see how they’re growing and see how they’re doing in college."

The break in UH’s game schedule last week gave Willmon time to fight off a cold. The Rainbow Wahine recharged after playing 16 games in the season’s first three weeks.

While the team used the open week to get more reps in the weight room, Coolen gave the pitching staff some down time leading into a stretch of 11 (and possibly 12) games in 11 days.

"I shut them down a little bit, so we could have livelier arms," Coolen said.

Coolen said plans to go with freshman Heather Morales (6-4, 4.10 ERA) and sophomore Loie Kesterson (3-2, 6.34) in the starting spots, with right fielder Keiki Carlos (0-1, 5.38) available in relief.

"Keiki has been throwing. Now we just have to get consistency out of her and she could be a factor for us," Coolen said.