On Tap with Michelle Tolfa

moment?

A: My “welcome to college sports” moment was probably when I started pitching a game over spring break against Stanford, one of the top college softball teams in the U.S. The stadium was enormous and packed with fans (although not necessarily for Princeton, but still!) I was just thinking, “Wow, I’m definitely in college. These girls are huge.”

Q: What is the greatest highlight in your sports career?

A: Recently, it would probably be the game I pitched against Wisconsin. It was the first game since coming to college that I finally felt comfortable on the mound, and since it is a pretty good team, the fact that they didn’t hit any line drives the whole game was pretty awesome.

Q: What’s the funniest story about your coach?

A: Hmm, well there are quite a few. Over spring break, [head coach Trina Salcido] lost her sweatpants and a T-shirt in the team laundry. A week ago, the clothes mysteriously reappeared in our locker room. At practice, Trina yelled “Who is the gypsy who stole my sweatpants?!” We have yet to discover the culprit, although signs point to [freshman infielder] Kristin Arguedas.

Q: Who is your quirkiest teammate? Why?

A: The quirkiest girl on our team is definitely [freshman catcher] Megan Weidrick. Maybe two months into the year, she sent out a team e-mail that said “You guys, we need to be really careful. There’s a staph outbreak in Virginia, so we need to be really clean.” She was genuinely worried for our safety, and it had an attached article about this terrifying epidemic. She’ll never live that down.

Q: What’s the best part about being an athlete on campus?

A: Probably having the team. It was great to have a group of girls to turn to and help me get through the first few weeks. They’re awesome and definitely the coolest group of girls I’ve ever met.

Q: What’s the worst/hardest part about being an athlete on campus?

A: The hardest part about being an athlete is the traveling in-season. Leaving campus on a Thursday, missing class and not getting back from a busy weekend until late Sunday night, then going to Chinese at 9 a.m. on Monday is really tough. Out of season, conditioning early in the mornings is definitely the worst and has made me increasingly dependent on naps.

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Q: What is your favorite thing to do when not practicing?

A: Generally, I just love to hang out with the girls on the team. Sitting in Wilcox for way too long having ridiculous conversations is usually a blast. And then, of course, going out and dancing like crazy, when it’s not 48 hours before a game.

Q: If you were coach for a day, you would…?

A: I’d take my team to Jamba Juice. It’s been pretty hot recently.

Q: Do you or your teammates have a pre-game ritual?

A: As a team, one pre-game ritual is going around in a circle and describing — sometimes rather graphically — how we’re going to take it to the other team. One of my favorites, from Weidrick, was “Use their bones for jewelry.”

Q: What’s the most embarrassing song on your iPod?

A: I have a lot of embarrassing songs on my iPod. I guess one in particular would be “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas. But who doesn’t like that song, really?