The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? son's wedding three years ago. But a decade ago, the Wolverines were gearing up for their finest athletic hour. Clementson started in the latter portion of her true freshman year in 2004, adding defensive specialist to her duties as a pinch runner. But the following season proved most memorable. The sophomore outfielder started 49 games for the Wolverines, hitting .246 and lending her defensive prow- ess to a team that looked like it was going places. The Wolverines played their first 33 games away from Alumni Field, assuming the road warrior mantle of northern teams in spring sports. They dropped their opener, 7-6, to Baylor in Las Vegas. Then they reeled off 33 consecutive wins, going from No. 8 in the nation at the season's onset to No. 1 by the time they hit Ann Arbor. Clementson recalled the drive that crew embraced. They'd been bounced from the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City in two disappointing games the year before, and a returning group led by seniors Jessica Merchant and Nicole Motycka yearned to get another shot. "The goal from the very begin- ning of the year was to be back at the World Series, playing for the champi- onship," Clementson recalled. "The more we kept playing, the more we believed that we could do it." In addition to the leadership and strong play of the seniors, Carol Hutchins' squad leaned on the iron will of junior pitcher Jennie Ritter when times got tough. It couldn't have gotten much tougher when, in extra innings of the Women's College World Series championship game against UCLA, the Bruins were one hit away from claiming the title. Clementson will always remember that crucible as an instant when the Wolverines could have caved, but didn't. "They had runners on first and sec- ond, and there was a moment where, if they had gotten a base hit, they were going to get the winning run," she recalled. "Sometimes it's easier to just give up and think, well, we did really well. But we were of one mind as a team at that moment. "We thought, no, we're going to keep fighting and go for it. Ritter came and got the out, then got the next out." That proved the moment before "The Moment," when Samantha Findlay boomed the game-winning three-run homer in the top of the 10th inning. But without the first, there would never have been the second. "It was symbolic of the season," Clementson recalled. "No one ex- pected Michigan to win it. Even though we were No. 1, we were never the favorite." She didn't watch the World Series the following season, after Michigan got bumped out in the Super Region- als and didn't get back to Oklahoma City to defend its national champi- onship. But that's the only one she's missed over the past decade, and the