A 32-year ride came to an abrupt end Saturday at El Camino Real Park.

Seniors Melanie Villarroel and Danielle Brown have started on the softball team since their freshman year, and combined they have 32 years of experience, Villarroel with 17 and Brown with 15. With the softball team’s win against Dallas, both women have come to terms with the end of collegiate softball in their lives.

“I like the feeling of being part of a team,” said Brown, a 21 year old political science major. “But 15 years is a long time. The time has come.”

It was a bitter-sweet ending for the team co-captains and roommates, as Chapman dropped its last nine games before the weekend’s wins. The team finished with a record of 16-20, which, coupled with last year’s 17-20 record, marks the program’s first back-to-back losing seasons and only the fifth since 1983. It is an especially disappointing way to go out, considering the state the program was in when they started freshman year, Villarroel said.

“At the time they came into the program we had just come off great seasons,” said assistant coach Doug Aiken, referring to the team’s third place finish in 2005 and subsequent postseason berth. “They’ve been so steady. A lot of younger players come in and ride the roller coaster, but not them. They’ve avoided the lows.”

The women would help power the team as starters to two more playoff appearances before last year’s losing season stopped the streak. Aiken remarked that the different playing styles of the two athletes have provided a powerful offensive punch as well as being nearly unstoppable on defense. This season, Villarroel hit for .347 and Brown .319, second and third on the team among starters after lead-off hitter freshman Kerry Peterson. They also lead the team in fielding percentage, Villarroel with .986 and Brown with .978.

“I’ve been consistently in the .900s at Chapman. I made maybe two errors this season,” said Villarroel, a 21 year old athletic training major. “It isn’t really a rivalry, and Dani [Brown] and I don’t think about the numbers out on the field, but I guess it is a little bit of a pride issue.”

Villarroel, the second baseman, and Brown, the first baseman, share a lot in common. They both love hip-hop and complained about the amount of rock their teammates play during warm-ups. They both love to go dancing and watch movies together and consider themselves reality T.V. junkies.

“They are always dancing around the field,” said Carly Foerster, sophomore infielder. “I think what has brought them together is how passionate they are about softball. They lead by example.”

But they have their differences as well. Villarroel is bubbly and outgoing and was nicknamed P.J. by the team her freshman year. P as in Paris Hilton and J as in Jessica Simpson, for what Aiken describes as being a little ditzy. Brown is quiet around people she doesn’t know well. She plans to take time off after graduation to study for the LSATs and apply to law school.

Whatever happens in the years to follow, the women have those 32 years of softball to look back on and the four seasons they shared at Chapman that will keep the roommates close in the future.

“I know these two are going to be lifelong friends, and with a lot of different personalities on a team, for these two to become so close is special,” Aiken said. “I expect them to be at each other’s weddings. And I better be invited.”


Contact this reporter: ryan.murray@thepantheronline.com