Linda Park knew something was wrong with her daughter. As a senior, Rachel Park led her high school team, Friendship Christian, in batting average. But in her first two years with the Syracuse softball team, her average dipped to .277.

The reason? Park wasn’t allowed to wear her glasses, which prevented her from fully seeing the ball. In the middle of last season, a doctor cleared her to play with new titanium glasses.

Since then, her hitting has returned. She concluded last year with a team-record 10-game hitting streak. She leads the Orangewomen with a .403 average. This weekend, she will head SU’s offensive charge in games at Canisius, Brown and Providence.

‘It’s simple,’ Linda said. ‘She couldn’t see the ball. Now she can, and look at what’s happened.’

Because of a vision problem, when Park looks at an object, she sees multiple copies of it. In Park’s freshman year, she was hit by a pitch in the eye. To protect her from glasses puncturing an eye, Park’s doctor ruled she must play without the glasses.

Now, with the safe titanium model, Park has more confidence.

‘My vision is much better,” Park said. “But I’m also more healthy and relaxed at the plate.’

A vision problem isn’t the only obstacle Park has overcome. She’s suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in each knee, the first injury in her sophomore year in high school and the second in preseason practice of her sophomore year at SU. The injury left Park devastated, but she bounced back quickly.

‘It happened exactly four years to the day of the first injury,’ Linda said. ‘She was just so dedicated. Instead of rehabbing three days a week, she did five or six.’

Said Park: ‘My team picked me up. I was so depressed, and they helped me up.’

Park came to SU out of high school as a shortstop. Syracuse head coach Mary Jo Firnbach said Park moved to second base because of a childhood wrist injury that inhibits her throwing.

Since her move to second base, Park has played with three different shortstops. This year, she feels especially comfortable with freshman Alexis Switenko. Park said she’s excited about the chemistry they can develop the next two seasons.

‘We have great chemistry up the middle,’ Switenko said. ‘We pick each other up when one makes a bad play. At the beginning of the year, (Park) helped to break me in.’

Now that the Orangewomen’s offense is struggling with an overall average of .257, Park plays an even more critical role. Besides Park, only freshman first baseman Jennifer Orpitelli (.367) has an average over .260.

‘She steps it up when need her to,’ senior designated player Julie Dunn said. ‘Whenever we are in a situation with runners in scoring position, she’s the person I want up.”

Said Firnbach: ‘She’s been hitting with consistency. She has the confidence that she can hit any pitcher and has come through in the big situations.’

Published on April 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm