May 9, 2011

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BERKELEY - Softball, along with baseball, is a highly superstitious sport. Players have been known to get dressed the same way before every game, draw things in the dirt, and the list goes on seemingly forever. After CalBears.com found out the reasoning behind the Golden Bears' walk-up songs, the next logical step was to investigate the student-athletes' jersey numbers. CalBears.com caught up with the softballers to find out why they chose their numbers.

1 - Frani Echavarria: When I was younger, we were picking out numbers and my coach said no one can just wear number 1. Anyone who has number 1 has to have to have an attitude and an edge and be tough on the field. So I asked if I could have the number and he looked at me and said, yea you can wear it. I've worn it ever since.

2 - Jordan Wallace: I wear number two because from as long as I can remember, I have a weird thing where I thing where I like everything in pairs. I am also a huge Derek Jeter fan!

3 - Jamia Reid: It was between three different numbers that I could possibly want. I wanted 4 originally, but that was already taken. Then I was thinking maybe 2 or 7, but I didn't like those enough. So since there were three numbers, I decided to be 3. It turns out a lot of my friends have this number.

4 - Alex Robben: My favorite number is 22, but it was already taken when I got here. The number 22 has been in my family all my life and I have had it ever since I started playing. I thought 4 would be a good number with which to start my college career.

5 - Elia Reid: I was number 1 all through travel ball but wore 5 in high school, so 5 grew on me over the three years. But I think it's meant to be because the letter E is the fifth letter of the alphabet. So forget the number1, I love number 5.

6 - Taylor Vincent: I wanted 7 (Ari's number), but she asked for it first so I settled for one less. Seven is the most magically powerful number... Or it was one of the first numbers I was given when I started playing and it stuck with me.

7 - Arianna Erceg: The reason why I am number 7 is because it was the number given to me on my first all-star team when I was eight-years-old. I have only been that number ever since.

9 - Jace Williams: When I was younger, I was really into soccer and wanted to be like Mia Hamm. So I copied her and chose 9 because that was her jersey number.

10 - Victoria Jones: I've always had two favorite numbers: 3 and 10. Three was always softball and 10 was always my soccer number. They were both given to me when I was very young. Since Jamia has 3, I went with 10. I still draw a three in the box before every pitch.

12 - Cassandra Vega: My original favorite number is 40 because of Uncle David, but I couldn't get it here. My second favorite is 12 because I was 12 on my club team. I also love it because Terry Bradshaw from my favorite team - the Pittsburgh Steelers - was number 12.

13 - Jayme Goodwin: Coach chose 13 for me. My favorite number is 21, which was my high school basketball number and my favorite athlete, Tim Duncan.

17 - Lindsey Ziegenhirt: A really, really long time ago, I was number 5. I grew out of the jersey and the only number left was 17. It was funny because my sister was number 7, so the joke is that I always try and one-up her so I had to be 17. I've had the number ever since.

18 - Britt Vonk: The reason why I picked number 18 is a little bit silly. I've worn it since I was 13-years-old and I don't want to replace it. I once saw "The Replacements" It's a movie about football, and even though we don't play football back in Holland, I thought it was a pretty good and inspiring movie. The football star in that movie had number 18, so that's why I picked it.

20 - Valerie Arioto: I wear 20 because I always have!

22 - Amy Bishop: I was born on Sept. 22. It's always been my favorite number and I've been 22 on most of my teams - softball and soccer - since I started playing sports. I was just lucky because when I joined the team, Coach offered me 22 or 7.

23 - Ashley Decker: My favorite numbers are 1, 22 and 23. I was number 1 in high school, was born on the 22nd and I just like the number 23. At Cal, I asked for 23, which was also my travel ball number.

24 - LaRisa Jones: My favorite number is 12, but my number is 24, which is 12 doubled. Everything is better doubled.

33 - Diane Leider: My very first number was 3 so I just chose 33 since it's kind of close to 3 since Jamia had 3.

54 - Jolene Henderson: I wear 54 because it was my dad's football number. I've always been a lot like my dad and I look up to him because he and my mom have taught me so much and made me into the person I am today. My parents do so much for me and always have. I wear 54 to be like my dad - strong, caring, determined and controlled - and I braid my hair for my mom.

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