July 28, 2011

BERKELEY - With her freshman campaign now complete and summer well underway for Victoria Jones, CalBears.com corresponded with Jones to see how her freshman year went. Working her way to becoming California's starting second baseman, Jones played in 52 of the Golden Bears' 58 games, knocking in 23 RBI and putting down a team-high six sacrifice hits. She absolutely exploded in the postseason, hitting .333 (.365 before the WCWS) with three sacrifice hits and four RBI. After the Lexington Super Regional, Jones upped her batting average to .225 from .196 thanks to her .556 hitting, slugging and on-base percentages in Lexington. CalBears.com tracked down Jones in her hometown of Oceanside, Calif., to discuss the 2011 season.

CalBears.com: Now that you've got one year of collegiate softball under your belt - what was the best part of the softball season?
Victoria Jones: The best part of this season was playing in front of so many fans all the time, especially going into postseason. It really gave me a rush being on that field.

CalBears.com: What was the best part about your fall or spring semester?
VJ: Making it to the World Series.

CalBears.com: After two semesters of college academics, what are you planning on doing differently or the same next semester in terms of school?
VJ: I have worked on doing assignments weeks earlier than they are due, to get them checked. So next year I am going to take even more time on my papers, etc and figure out exactly the material I need to study for my finals, so I do not miss anything.

CalBears.com: What is something you didn't know before you came to Cal but you now know?
VJ: How much reading is really required in college.

CalBears.com: What was the favorite class you took this year?
VJ: Education 98.

CalBears.com: What was it like to balance top-notch academics and playing on nationally ranked softball team?
VJ: It was definitely difficult. Especially in the spring with all of the traveling we did. I did get all my studying in and all my homework assignments turned in, but I was extremely tired by the end of the weekend, and having to stay up and review for finals or working on a paper instead of sleeping was very tough.

CalBears.com: What was the first trip to the postseason like for you?
VJ: It was very exciting, and I was extremely confident that we were going to sweep our regional, which we did.

CalBears.com: What is one of your most hilarious or embarrassing stories from your freshman year?
VJ: Oh there are plenty that my teammates would probably love to share about me, but my most embarrassing moment would have to be on our first day of workouts. We were running over to the stadium to do our infamous stadiums, and at that time there were a lot of potholes in the road. We were all in a clump, and Jordan Wallace cut me off, and I had to look up, and I stepped in a pot hole and face planted. But I made it look very smooth when I got up. Little did I know that the football team was right behind us going to the weight room.

CalBears.com: What advice would you give to incoming freshmen?
VJ: To take notes in class.

Read all past Q&As and features on the Golden Bears here!

Read Jones' first Q&A with CalBears.com!