Shemiah Sanchez hasn’t stood at third base since she was in summer league.
But when LSU coach Beth Torina approached Sanchez about switching from second to third base in the offseason, she didn’t hesitate.
“At first I was like, ‘Well, it’s a different look, but OK, I’ll give it a shot,’” Sanchez said.
In her freshman season, Sanchez started only nine games, six of those being at second base, the other three as designated player.
Through 10 games this season, Sanchez has almost surpassed that, playing and starting in eight games at third base.
In the third game of the season against McNeese State, Sanchez hit a walkoff single to lift the Tigers to a 4-3 victory. Since then, Sanchez has been making statements.
During the fall, the coaching staff wanted to see what Sanchez could do at third base.
Throughout practice in the fall and spring, Torina knew that Sanchez belonged at third base.
“She has really outworked a majority of the team,” Torina said.
Sanchez would stay longer to work on ground balls and work on her reaction time to get the edge on her competition.
“She is a competitor,” senior catcher and infielder Sahvanna Jaquish said. “She is going to fight at every position. She comes out here every day at practice and gives it her full effort. She’s really fast, too. Not a lot of people can hit for power and run and steal bases like she can.”
The biggest adjustment for Sanchez was working on her reaction time.
“Coming from the middle, I had more time to field the ball to the corner. It’s a hot corner over there,” Sanchez said.
What stood out to Torina was Sanchez’s effort to learn everything about the position and truly grasp what it takes to be a competitive third baseman.
“She has spent a lot of time trying to understand [playing third base] and take her best shot at it,” Torina said.
Jaquish has played many games at third base in her career, so Sanchez looked to Jaquish as a mentor, but Jaquish felt that Sanchez didn’t need a lot of help.
“She’s a natural athlete,” Jaquish said. “She just had to fix a couple of her first steps because it’s different being so close to the batter rather than further back in the middle infield. Other than that, she recognizes bunts, she fixed her first step, she does everything she is suppose to do.”
Despite a fairly new infield, Torina said her young group has adjusted and played well so far.
Through 10 games, LSU’s opponents have only scored 22 runs and have an on base percentage of .270, compared to LSU’s .452.
With a young team and returning players comes a lot of competition. From the start, Torina said there would be a lot of depth at the corners.
“She has put in so much time that I think she has truly earned the spot by her work and her effort, and she’s a great athlete on top of that,” Torina said.
With the extra work Sanchez has put in, the offense came along with it.
Sanchez had one goal following the 2016 season with the Tigers: she wanted to come out and make an impact for her team.
“It’s a blessing,” Sanchez said. “I just have to thank God for giving me the opportunity to be able to help out my team.”