"Stingier than a six-year old down to his last Skittle."
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From: gatornews@googlegroups.com [mailto:gatornews@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Shane Ford
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2017 8:17 AM
To: GatorNews
Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Pat Dooley: Rocha rocks as mentor to pitchers
Pat Dooley: Rocha rocks as mentor to pitchers
Florida pitching coach Jennifer Rocha has molded the pitching staff to be among the nation's best since her arrival in Gainesville.
Brad McClenny/Staff Photographer
By Pat Dooley
Gainesville Sun Sports writer
Published: Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 9:50 p.m.
If you are looking for the genesis of Florida's decade-long rise to softball prominence, it would be easy to point to the day Jeremy Foley hired Tim Walton to take over the program.
Facts
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What: SEC Tournament
Where: Knoxville, Tenn.
When: Quarterfinals, 2:30 p.m., No. 1 seed Florida (50-5) vs. No. 8 seed Ole Miss (37-18)
TV: SEC Network
But there was a more subtle turning point for a program that was struggling to get out of its own way.
It happened that first year in 2006, a year when Gator fans were in the middle of celebrating the rarest of doubles in basketball and football. Walton was trying to change a culture that had twice as many career NCAA Tournament losses as wins and in his first whirlwind season the new coach was already going to have to find a new pitching coach.
Jennifer Jaime had come with him from Wichita State, but now she was going to return to Oklahoma as Jennifer Rocha.
"She told me she would finish the season, but that she and Paul (Rocha) were pretty serious about getting married," Walton said. "She was going to move to where he was.
"But Paul came out to our games one weekend and he saw the bond between us and what we were trying to do. So he said, 'Forget it. You're not moving. I'm moving here.' "
It was a fortuitous decision that has paid dividends for all. The Gators have won two national titles, just took their third straight SEC regular-season championship and head into the SEC Tournament today as the No. 1 seed and the No. 1 team in America.
Certainly, it's not all because Jen Rocha stayed. But it didn't hurt.
Just look at the list of All-American pitchers who have fired peas underhanded for Rocha at Florida — Stacey Nelson, Stephanie Brombacher, Hannah Rogers, Lauren Haeger, Delanie Gourley and Aleshia Ocasio.
Oh, and there's a decent chance Kelly Barnhill will join them later this year.
Florida's pitching has been its strength under Rocha and it's almost become a given that UF pitchers will be stingier than a six-year-old down to his last Skittle.
"She's the head coach of the pitchers," Walton said. "Her style is unique. She's a hard worker, but she'll kill you with kindness."
Nelson, who pitched Florida into its first Women's College World Series in 2008, saw the playful side of Rocha when the coach dressed up as her star pitcher for Halloween.
"She did so much for me whether I asked for it or not," said Nelson, who came to UF with Walton and Rocha. "She has a softer style, not to say she couldn't get tough. She pushes people.
"She told me all the time, 'If you're not ready to pitch, let me know.' One time I told her I wasn't ready and she and Tim jumped all over me."
Nelson went on to post one of the most gaudy career records at UF (despite a 14-12 freshman record) at 136-36 with an ERA of 0.99.
"Her teaching me the drop ball changed everything," Nelson said.
That's the thing. Walton and Rocha have this philosophy when recruiting pitchers, one that has obviously been successful.
We're not going to change you. We want you the way you are. We're going to make you better.
So far, it's worked pretty well. So has the pairing of the former baseball pitcher and the woman who wanted to go into social work.
"My dad was a travel ball coach so I grew up like most of the girls did," Rocha said. "I didn't know I wanted to be a coach. But my resume was softball."
It was at Oklahoma where she — as a grad assistant — and Walton — as an assistant — shared an office.
Well, maybe that's an exaggeration.
"I think our office was a closet," Walton said. "We've had a crazy career together."
But something clicked inside Rocha.
"I realized I had a passion for coaching," she said.
And remember, this was while doing the grad assistant grunt work like cleaning out sheds and filing recruiting reports.
It wasn't much later that Oregon called looking for a pitching coach.
"I learned on the job," Rocha said.
And then Walton got the head coaching gig at Wichita State and immediately reached back for Rocha.
"She had an ability to work and I knew that was what it was going to take," Walton said. "And I knew she could work with pitchers."
When Florida called, it was a no-brainer
"Gainesville seemed to be the better weather option," Rocha said.
So they continue together despite the dozens of schools who keep pecking at her door, asking her to come work her magic with their programs as a head coach. It's become almost a yearly parade of phone calls to Gainesville and yet, Rocha stays with the Gators.
"I'm not sure this isn't the perfect job," Rocha said. "I'm really happy to be here. I enjoy the girls we have and the people I work with."
Walton has told her he'd never hold her back.
He hasn't had to.
Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at pat.dooley@gvillesun.com. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.
Sent From Shane's iPhone
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