AMHERST — The sign has been staring at Jena Cozza for almost four years now.
Just to the left of Sortino Field’s right field foul pole, just under 200 feet from home plate, is a sign listing all of UMass’ Atlantic 10 Championships. There have been no new entries since 2012.
“They’re haunting me,” the senior third baseman said laughing but more than a little serious.
But there is a space in the bottom-right corner, enough white to add one more title. Cozza wants it. Badly.
“I’ve been wanting to fill it in ever since I’ve been here,” she said. “There’s one little space left.”
An Atlantic 10 championship and the accompanying trip to the NCAA Tournament has long been a motivating factor. It was the carrot helping push her through rehab for last year’s torn ACL that cost her half the season. And it spurred her through an offseason of increased dedication preparing for her final season.
“I like that she’s thinking like that and I like that she’s talking about it. Because if she’s talking about it, she believes it. That’s the most important thing,” UMass coach Kristi Stefanoni said. “She wants to win so bad. That’s all she talks about. She was reminding her teammates in the summer. She got here early. She wants that championship so badly. She’s that focused and locked in.”
Cozza is in the midst of her best season and the best season of any player in the Atlantic 10, and is climbing UMass career charts in the process. She’s hitting .482 with 12 home runs and 45 RBIs.
Her batting average would be the No. 2 single-season average in school history and her .405 career mark would be third all-time. Her 33 career home runs are eight shy of KJ Kelley’s UMass record. Her RBI total is 16 shy of the UMass single-season mark.
It’s not uncommon for the dominance of one player to lift an entire team in softball, but that player is almost always a pitcher. When Cozza returned from her knee injury last season, UMass was 13-16. In the final 24 games, she hit .380 with five home runs and 17 RBIs. The Minutewomen went 16-8 the rest of the way and were in extra innings in the Atlantic 10 championship game.
She’s been a fixture in the lineup this year and UMass (28-12, 16-0 Atlantic 10) has continued to win. Saturday’s three-game series against Fordham in New York will likely determine the league’s regular-season champion. But that’s likely just act one. The teams could play again two weeks later in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, which is also at Fordham.
“So far it’s been the best season since I’ve been here. We’ve been doing great things,” Cozza said. “We knew it was going to take a while. I’m glad to be a part of bringing back wins and hopefully a championship.”
She and Stefanoni don’t exactly see eye to eye on how much impact she’s making.
“It’s really the play of everyone else around me. We’ve been putting up a lot of runs, there’s not pressure on just one person to get the job done. Everyone is contributing,” Cozza said. “Everyone on the team is a hardworker and just really wants to win.”
Stefanoni sees it differently.
“It’s inspiring for her teammates to see how much work she’s put in. She will leave a legacy here at UMass. From her freshman year going through two ACL tears, she has done that. It’s good for the younger players behind her to see that,” Stefanoni said. “This kid is on a total mission. We have one kid who is literally the difference maker.”
Cozza said her legacy doesn’t matter on paper if her career doesn’t end with a championship.
“As long as that main goal is accomplished,” she said. “I can’t see myself feeling like it was a good year if we don’t win, no matter what my individual stats are.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage