Too legit to sit

For the last two months of her freshman season, Katie Manuma was relegated to benchwarmer.

Wait, what?

Hard to imagine, but it was indeed the case for Manuma, who was so good in high school that she altered the format for the Star-Advertiser All-State softball team.

After a dominant 2010 season, Manuma was named the All-State player of the year, a rare honor that combined the position player and pitcher of the year into one.

By going 13-1 with a 0.68 ERA and 93 strikeouts and hitting .490 (24-for-49) with six homers, six doubles and 14 walks, she also earned the Gatorade State Player of the Year award, so it was no surprise she immediately earned a starting job her freshman year at Brigham Young.

But by the time April hit, Manuma had lost her starting job and played in only three of the team’s final 27 games, missing all four NCAA regional games.

"Sitting on the bench just sucks, and I told myself I wasn’t going to sit on the bench again," said Manuma, who hit .240 as a freshman. "Coming into Division I, and especially coming out of Hawaii, I thought I was good enough to make the starting lineup, which I did, but I got kind of complacent thinking there’s no way I would sit on the bench.

"I was definitely wrong. It’s a totally different level, and just because you’re the star on your travel or high school team, it doesn’t mean it will carry over."

Fortunately for Manuma, she has plenty of people to seek out in times of need.

Three older sisters all played Division I softball — Anita (Tennessee), Malamaisaua (Hawaii) and Valana (Hawaii) — and cousin Leneah Manuma was an All-American at Arizona.

Those were the people Katie turned to in the middle of her freshman struggles.

"They went through that experience, and the thing they told me is that you have to take all of the negativity out of your mind," Katie Manuma said. "I really had to change my mental game after my freshman year."

Rejuvenated for the start of her second season, Manuma found herself back in the starting lineup, where she excelled.

Her batting average rose 76 points to .316 and she finished with seven doubles, eight homers and 40 RBIs on the way to being named to the All-Western Athletic Conference second team.

Playing both corner spots in the infield, she posted a .978 fielding percentage despite rarely practicing outdoors.

The weather in Provo, Utah, is generally so bad that Manuma said they probably practiced outside "only once or twice" all year.

"It’s definitely different because we practice on the turf usually the whole time and the bounces are so much better," Manuma said. "When we get out on the dirt, we have to adjust because it’s a different kind of bounce. It’s why when we go on the road, our coach will usually stop somewhere so we can practice first on the dirt."

BYU opened the 2013 season in the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah, last weekend.

Manuma hit .267 (4-for-15) with a home run and four RBIs, but the Cougars, who have come within a game of an NCAA Super Regional each of the past two seasons, only went 2-3.

"Very disappointed, but hopefully we got all of the bugs out of our system," Manuma said. "We had some mental errors out there, didn’t string hits together, but hopefully we get our act together and we play better this tournament."

Up next is the Easton Desert Classic in Las Vegas starting Thursday. BYU opens with Hawaii, which it beat en route to the WAC tournament championship last year.

"Yeah, it’s my home team, but then again, the only people we have to worry about is ourselves," Manuma said. "I mean, yeah, I’m kind of amped up that we’re playing Hawaii, but then again, it’s just another team."