By PERRY L. NOVAK, Sports Editor, Oneida Dispatch
Hamilton, NY – Vickie Sax was California Dreamin’ a four years ago, but it had nothing to do with surf and sand. No, the 51·çÁ÷ softball coach had her sights set on a 5-foot-11 first baseman named Melissa Rawson.
‘In 10th grade she started to excel, junior year she started taking AP classes and senior year I recruited her heavily,’ Sax said. ‘And we were up against Stanford and Canisius.’
Rawson was up against a lot from the beginning. Born with autism, she didn’t speak a word until a miraculous day when she first went to school as a five-year-old.
‘She had never said a word in public,’ Sax told of that day. ‘Then she said, ‘I love you, Mommy.’
Rawson was a polite kid but bad things happened to her. She was taunted by some of her grade school and junior high classmates because of her learning difficulties. It made the soft-spoken Mormon determined.
‘In high school things started to kick in,’ Sax said. ‘Senior year I recruited her heavily when she was taking AP classes. That’s why it’s so special. Kids told her she was stupid, dumb and a retard. When she walked across that stage at graduation she told me (she) looked at the people who called me dumb, stupid and retard and said, ‘I’m going to 51·çÁ÷.’
And when the Highland (Calif.) High School product arrived to play for the Raiders, Sax knew her team’s fortunes were about to change. Rawson can’t do much about global warming, but Madison County feels much hotter when the Psychology major swings a bat. The senior recently broke Amanda Paolucci’s school record of 19 career home runs when she belted her 20th in a 7-1 loss to Lehigh. The roundtripper also left her one short the Patriot League career mark. Rawson has a chance to eclipse it Tuesday at Siena.
‘She’s able to put the bat on the ball, no matter where it is,’ teammate Dorothy Donaldson said of a key to the senior’s success. ‘She has a good base swing and she can adjust. That everybody strives for.’
‘She has raw talent but she’s also very focused,’ fellow senior Amanda Brickell said. ‘And she doesn’t think when she hits. That’s what makes a great player.’
‘She been great since day one (but) this year it seems there’s more desire because it’s her last year. Melissa can do it all.’
Rawson had a career batting average of .361 entering this spring. Last year she hit three home runs, had 25 RBIs, batted .341 and was .516 with runners in scoring position.
‘In high school I was thought of more as a contact hitter,’ Rawson said. ‘I’d hit home runs now and then. I still think of myself as a contact hitter.’
With six homers to date in 2003, she’s more than that. Not one to tout herself, Rawson does admit to some of the changes that have helped her near a coveted league record.
‘It’s a result of the right fundamentals, lifting, strength and conditioning…I’m a lot stronger,’ she said. And smarter. After a tough adjustment to the rigors of the school’s academic demands her freshman year, Rawson has blossomed on and off the field.
‘I like it here,’ she said. ‘It’s a small school and a lot more personal. The professors, coaches and teammates I’ve become better friends with. My high school’s bigger than 51·çÁ÷.’
One holdover from her high school is her sister Natalie. The sophomore followed her to Raiderland and has carved out a nice niche for herself while sharing an apartment with her older sibling.
‘When I got here I was so glad she was here,’ Natalie said. ‘My last game in high school with her I was crying with her. To play with her again is cool. And I didn’t know what I would have done academically or with the transition without her.’
‘Natalie’s helped me,’ Melissa said. ‘I try to be relaxed. Before each at bat I look over to her and she picks me up and gets me pumped.’
The senior Rawson was really pumped up last year when three siblings took the field in a game. Natalie’s twin sister Nicole pitched for Marist when the teams met and Melissa went 2-for-3.
‘That definitely was the funnest game of my life,’ Melissa said despite the fact she didn’t homer and did strike out once.
The Rawson clan is versatile as another game when Natalie pitched to Melissa proved last year. Melissa’s switch from first base to shortstop this spring is another example and her being a member of the school’s volleyball team is another.
‘When first I talked to her I knew she was a cut above,’ assistant coach Jim Ciccone said of Melissa. ‘She’s a typical California girl. She’s very laid back. But the way she carried herself…she wasn’t in awe. She’ll be a success at anything she puts her mind to. Nothing bothers her and she isn’t afraid to fail.’
No, Melissa Rawson doesn’t fail much of anything. And the Palmdale, Calif. native will probably be just as successful after she pursues her master’s degree and enters the social work field.
‘I’d like to work in foster care,’ she said. ‘I like working with children. We always had foster children coming through our household and it seemed like a neat profession.’
When she gets into it, no one will be surprised if she hits another home run.