LOS ANGELES — Alexis Ramirez has loved softball, had it taken from her and, finally, had fallen in love with it.
“I have a lot of love for even showing up every day,” Ramirez said. “I pride myself in showing up with a smile, not just because I have to, but because I get to be here and I get this opportunity to even play still. Some people don’t ever get that again.”
Ramirez – or “Lefty,” as she’s known in the softball world – was shaping up to be a major contributor for UCLA last season both offensively and at catcher after prepping at La Serna High School, but an early-season injury last year altered her course.
She’s returned this season with a new perspective as a redshirt sophomore, hitting .354 in 79 at-bats while guiding the Bruins’ pitchers with her signature calm confidence.
A season-ending injury
Ramirez was in right field when she slipped in mud while running for a ball during the Bruins’ opening weekend. A popping sensation rippled through her body and the next thing she knew, associate head coach Lisa Fernandez was holding her hand as she sat on the ground.
She walked off the field on her own power – and it was the last time she’d be able to do so for over a year. Doctors were almost immediately confident that Ramirez had torn her ACL as well as both menisci in her left leg.
Surgery followed three weeks later but her recovery was not swift, taking months longer than expected. The team that she had tended to and supported so deeply was now caring for her.
“It was definitely frustrating when she first came back,” said head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez, whose Bruins travel to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks in the NCAA Super Regional starting Friday. “She was hard on herself because in practice, she was doing so well that everyone was cheering for her.
“But when she didn’t come through right away, it started to wear on her.”
Ramirez consulted the team’s sports psychiatrist while creating a new sanctuary for herself to fill the void that softball had left. She leaned on her faith, going to church every Sunday as the rest of the team traveled to their weekend games.
“I’d journal every day,” Ramirez said. “I’d read a chapter out of the Bible, take notes, pray. Doing those things whenever I could. Just trying to stick to a routine and like, have faith in the plan that I like is already set out for me and just knowing that each step I take has already been written.”
Building experience
Inouye-Perez needs a pitch.
“Something outside, what do you got?”
That’s the dialogue of the co-calling process that Inouye-Perez employs to give her catchers and pitchers a sense of autonomy and a better understanding of the game.
Ramirez has been co-calling games with her coach all season, building on a process that began while she was injured. Inouye-Perez makes the final decision and Ramirez sends the signal.
“She’s been into the game the whole time,” Inouye-Perez said, “and it lets her see it from a different perspective as well. She was dialed in. She’s communicating. We’re looking at scouting reports.”
The foundation was laid in Ramirez’s freshman year. She came into the program as the No. 24 recruit in the country, according to Extra Inning Softball, and at one point, decorated pitcher Megan Faraimo chose Ramirez to catch for her when Sharlize Palacios went down with injury.
Ramirez has caught for Taylor Tinsley and Kaitlyn Terry in games this season while catching for Addisen Fisher in the bullpen.
“She tells me to literally just calm down, just be slow and not try and go so fast,” Terry said.
The tranquility that Ramirez brings to the position allows her to soothe pitchers, but it’s the relationship-building that takes place off the field that leads to overall success.
She learns throughout the fall what makes each of the pitchers smile and what words trigger positivity or could give them a particular cue in a game.
“I would never call a pitcher difficult,” said Ramirez, who went 3 for 4 with a team-high 5 RBI in a 12-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Sunday to sweep the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. “You just always have to understand how to approach each of them individually because they’re all very different.
“It’s taking advantage of the time we have together in the bullpen and really being intentional with our interactions and really hearing them and understanding them and what they’re saying.”
Falling in love with the game
Ramirez spoke fluidly at the podium on behalf of En Fuego, a youth softball and baseball program, during a Santa Fe Springs City Council meeting in early September 2024. She had an internship with En Fuego and had even co-coached an 11U baseball team with fellow Bruin Megan Grant and was helping the program acquire a park.
“I want to put my stamp on those kids in Santa Fe Springs and hope to see another one of me at UCLA, Florida, Oklahoma, wherever it is because I know it’s a lot of those kids’ dreams,” Ramirez said in her speech. “And for the kids that don’t get to make it there, at least they had the experience of being in love with something.”
Working with En Fuego sparked an emotion in her. The time away from the sport, forced by injury, kindled it. Returning to Easton Stadium has fanned the flame, and it’s providing warmth and comfort to her team.
“My love for the game is at an all-time high right now,” Ramirez said. “The amount that we play this game, it feels very easy to take it for granted. But I’m grateful for every day that we get to be here – in every swing and ground ball and rep.”
