University of Georgia Athletics
Iosefa, LaZear Thriving In Final Seasons
May 06, 2016 | Softball
Samantha LaZear and Tina Iosefa have come from near and far to arrive at the same place: they're seniors on the No. 15-ranked Georgia softball team and they're having by far the best seasons of their careers.
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Samantha LaZear and Tina Iosefa have come from near and far to arrive at the same place: they're seniors on the No. 15-ranked Georgia softball team and they're having by far the best seasons of their careers.
LaZear is the local, or at least close to it. She can get from the Bulldogs' Jack Turner Stadium to the family home front door in Comer, Ga., in less than 30 minutes. Iosefa is from Lynwood, Calif., tucked in around more famous places in the Los Angeles area like Inglewood and Compton.
Iosefa, the Bulldogs' first baseman, said the only real downside to going to college all the way across the country has been being so far from her family. For LaZear, staying close to family was the number one pro to attending Georgia.
"I've always wanted to stay close to home," said the centerfielder. "I just loved the family aspect of it. It's really nice on the weekends when we don't have anything here, I just drive home and I'll watch a football game with my dad. I love it."
Being close to home was also a big positive last weekend when LaZear got sick and even had to spend some time in the hospital, missing out on playing in the Bulldogs' final home series of the regular season.
"Sometimes it would be nice to go off [to college], but then there's times like this past weekend when I got really sick and my dad drove down and he was there with me," she said before practice Wednesday.
Iosefa said the chance to play for a program like Georgia made the decision to go to school far from home an easy one.
"I definitely didn't think I was coming this far for college, but once the opportunity was there I just took it and ran with it," she said.
For both seniors, this final season was an opportunity to finish their careers strong and enjoy one more spring playing ball. And both have made the most of it.
Iosefa began her career with a bang, a bunch of them actually. She hit 14 home runs as a freshman and had 43 runs batted in, while hitting. 255. As a sophomore her average went way up, to .344, while hitting 10 homers and driving in 43 runs. Last season she earned second-team All-SEC honors after hitting .350, with eight homers and 41 RBIs.
Iosefa enters this weekend's final regular-season series, at No. 4 Alabama, with a .357 batting average. She's also hit a career-best 17 home runs -- tied for the SEC lead in home runs with Auburn's Kasey Cooper -- and leads the conference with 73 runs batted in.
"Just continuing to have fun this season has been the biggest thing," she said. "Not being so caught up in the stats and just enjoying my senior year and enjoying my last year as a softball player."
Of course it's easy to enjoy yourself when you're crushing the ball and one of the dominant offensive players in the SEC. Three of her 17 homers have been grand slams.
"Regardless of the results I know that I've been blessed to have this opportunity and I'm just kind of enjoying the moments and really taking them in," she said.
For LaZear, she knows her role is to get hits and score runs. She batted .359 and crossed home plate 24 times as a freshman. As a sophomore she hit .326 and had 32 runs scored. Last season it was .330 and 30 runs.
LaZear's batting average has leapt to .425 this season and would rank sixth in the SEC if she had enough at-bats, and she's scored 31 times. Like Iosefa, LaZear said the key to her success in her final season has been mainly about her mental approach to the game.
"You honestly don't have anything to lose at this stage," she said. "It's your final season and you just kind of let it all go out there. I'm really just having fun this season; you can strike out three times in a game, but you know you're alive, you're breathing and you're very blessed to be where you are.
"That's kind of where I've been at this season and it's been nice and I've really enjoyed it."
One came from the West Coast, the other from just down the road, and together in their final seasons their having a blast.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.