[ WAHINE SOFTBALL ]
RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Two weeks ago against Siena, Hawaii junior Shannon Tabion tossed the second perfect game in UH history.
Tabion making most
of second chances
Shannon Tabion understands how rare second chances are in athletics. The Rainbow Wahine softball pitcher also knows the rarity of a perfect game.
Tabion feels fortunate for every opportunity she gets in the circle. Last fall, the 5-foot-7 junior thought this would be her final season in a Wahine uniform. Tabion was devastated when she learned last summer that she needed spinal surgery and the operation would shorten her UH career.
The 20-year old has scoliosis -- a curvature of the spine -- and corrective surgery was a necessity. Tabion was diagnosed with scoliosis before her freshman year of high school and the degree of curvature has steadily, though not dramatically, worsened each year with every wind-up of her right arm.
"She came in and she was fearful that it was going to be her last year," Hawaii coach Bob Coolen said. "We talked early and she told me, 'I'm done. I need to get a rod in my back to fix the scoliosis and they're going to do it before my 21st birthday for insurance purposes.'
"I called her doctor to see if there was any way we could put it off until after next season. I didn't want her to go through the whole program and then miss out on her senior year, which is usually your best."
The good news came last November and after a lengthy paperwork process: Tabion will be able to close out her career next spring with two of her closest teammates in juniors Melissa Coogan and Denise Dahlberg. She will undergo surgery after the 2005 season.
"This year was potentially all or nothing when I first came back from summer," Tabion said. "I wanted to give it all I got this year because this was (supposed to be) my last year. I want to go out with something to say."
THOUGH IT'S NOT her last year, Tabion has played this season with a senior urgency. She is 10-3 with an ERA of 1.80, striking out 58 in 81 2/3 innings. It was a drastic improvement from a 6-8 season (2.46 ERA) as a sophomore.
"She had mentally prepared herself for this being her last year. She came back in incredible shape. She had a great fall, pitched real well," Coolen said. "Tabs was mentally and physically prepared and all the preparation paid off. ... She's had her moments, but to go on the run that she went on has helped us out tremendously. We could have been in a big-time hole right now rather than 15-14 . We could've been sub .500 by a lot of games if she didn't pick it up and we didn't play for her."
A year ago, the mental load paralyzed Tabion. After leading Baldwin High School (Maui) to its first state championship in softball, the 2001 Star-Bulletin Player of the Year was a bit shell-shocked by her first two seasons of collegiate softball. Tabion has steadily climbed the confidence curve over the last two years.
Her teammates never doubted Tabion's talent.
"Shannon has always had the physical abilities, but in the past years it was the mental part of the game that was getting to her," Coogan said. "This year, she finally grew over her lack of confidence and just went out there like, 'I know how to throw. I want to throw.' "
Confidence that wouldn't have been possible had Tabion not endured so many ups and downs.
"The surest stepping stone to success is failure and that would be last year, where I thought that was the worst of my career ever," Tabion said. "I had a lot of mental games going on in my mind. Getting down on myself real quick if I gave up a home run rather than working through it and thinking that was just one pitch.
"Now, I'm understanding the game of softball where I kind of lost that my freshman and sophomore year 'cause everything was so new. ... I'm buckling down and really focusing on the game."
HER CAPACITY to focus was obvious when she pitched a perfect game two weeks ago against Siena. Tabion retired all 18 batters in a game shortened by the mercy rule. She is only the second Wahine to toss a perfect game. Former ace Brooke Wilkins did it in 1994 against New Mexico State.
"A perfect game is not on my list of goals. My basic goals for every game is to get ahead on the count, stay ahead," said Tabion, who pitched every game of her high school career. "Sometimes it's get a set number of strikeouts, a set number of hits that I want on a round. But never a perfect game. Those kind of things just happen."
But only for those who take advantage of second opportunities.
Notes: Hawaii opens the Hawaii Invitational Tournament today at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Coogan will start today's opening contest against Utah at 6 p.m. and against third-ranked California on Saturday. Tabion is slated to pitch against Northwestern tomorrow at 7 p.m. and on Sunday against No. 22 Texas. ... California's Kaleo Eldredge, a shortstop on last year's World Series runner-up team, was Tabion's high school teammate. ... Northwestern's J.C. Kira is a senior catcher from St. Francis High School. ... Also participating in the tourney are Tokyo W.C.P.E. and Nittaidai.
