WEST LAFAYETTE — With two sets of sunglasses resting on her shoulders, a pair of softball mitts piled atop her head, a sliding glove on each hand and a grin across her face, sophomore center fielder Jenissa Conway gave a postgame interview.
While Conway’s teammates beside her doubled over and lost their composure in the process of donning their teammate in as many pieces of equipment they could get their hands on, Conway stayed focused.
“I don’t even know what was all on me if I’m being honest,” Conway said after the fact. “My head was heavy, my arms were heavy, I didn’t even realize I had a shin guard on.”
Looking directly into the camera — seemingly unfazed by the amount of memorabilia she was balancing – she embraced the amusement of the moment and articulately answered each of the questions thrown her way.
In other words, she did her job, and she had fun doing it.
The two seem to go hand in hand for Conway, who recorded two of the Michigan softball team’s three RBIs in a 3-2 win over Wisconsin in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament Wednesday.
“If I’m not having fun (out there), I’m not having a good day,” Conway said. “I need to bring the light out of things.”
Wednesday’s affair didn’t begin in an uplifting sequence for Conway, who flied out in her first appearance at the plate and, on defense, let a shallow pop fly get past her in center after a slight over pursuit.
But Conway wasn’t phased. It was part of the process she loves to embrace.
And in her very next at-bat in the third inning, her patience with the process paid dividends. The first of her pair of RBIs came off of a standup double off the left-field wall that sent freshman pinch runner Cece Thorington comfortably into home.
Upon securing her spot at second base, Conway began to celebrate, bobbing as she swung her arms up and down in opposite directions. It was a crucial play in a tight-knit game, and she couldn’t help but embrace the sweetness of it.
“(The celebration) is just natural, you know?” Conway said. “It just pops in my head and I start doing it.”
By the fifth inning the Badgers began to close in, once again making the game a one-run affair. The Wolverines needed an answer to Wisconsin’s fifth-inning production with some of their own. But after a quick groundout from junior shortstop Avery Fantucci, junior second baseman Indiana Langford was caught stealing second during Conway’s at-bat. Tensions increased, and an answer became unlikely.
Stuck in a deep count with two outs, witnessing the only baserunner of the inning get thrown out during her own at-bat, it would have been easy for Conway to check out of her at-bat. But instead, Conway took hold of her hindrances, making acquaintances with a fastball down the middle and sending the pitch over the center-field wall for her first home run in three weeks.
“On (Conway’s) end offensively, it’s great to see her hit that home run,” Michigan head coach Bonnie Tholl said. “Hopefully this catapults her and catapults the rest of our offense.”
As Conway jogged into the mob of rowdy teammates celebrating her home run at home plate, she simply shrugged her shoulders. She’s used to it.
