The OC Register's Mirin Fader profiles Cal State Fullerton's senior third baseman Missy Taukeiaho.

After turbulence, CSUF softball standout Missy Taukeiaho finds peace on the field

Just before St. Patrick's Day, Cal State Fullerton softball coach Kelly Ford wrote her players' names on a dry-erase board with a word that reminded her of each player.

"Peaceful," she wrote next to senior third baseman Missy Taukeiaho, a two-time All-American who has practically rewritten the program's record book.

Taukeiaho, who was selected as one of 50 student-athletes on the "Watch List" for the 2016 USA Collegiate Softball player of the year award, boasts a .384 batting average and a .688 slugging percentage for the Titans (28-10 overall).

"She calms the storm," Ford said. "When the moment gets big, she makes it small. When the pressure is building, she pops the bubble."

Taukeiaho knows when to crack a joke to a freshman who is nervous or when to deliver a sharp look to a veteran to light a fire. She often encourages her teammates to relax.

"She says, 'Keep the game simple, easy as counting one, two, three,'" said sophomore outfielder Samantha Vandiver, Taukeiaho's roommate.

Taukeiaho, who sometimes hits at 10:30 p.m., has always felt at ease on the field. With each at-bat, she does more than light up the scoreboard. She leaves her pain at the plate.

"Softball has been a saving grace," Taukeiaho said. "It's been my sanctuary."

Jorge Araujo had to get Taukeiaho to join his 10-and-under travel team, the Lakewood Ladies. He knew the 9-year-old girl possessed intangibles that coaches can't teach: competitiveness, power, inner drive.

The Rancho Cucamonga native began pitching in T-ball at age 6. "She was throwing really hard," said her mother, Angela Vargas. "Everybody was so scared she was going to hurt their daughters."

Taukeiaho couldn't have known that she would play for Cal State Fullerton a decade later with Araujo serving as assistant coach. All she knew was that one afternoon, a man was in her kitchen asking her mother if she would play for his team.

She soon joined. During 10U Nationals, Araujo said she broke a record with 13 home runs during the tournament, against girls a year older than her, in front of crowds of 200 people.

But Araujo contemplated cutting Taukeiaho from the team because of her age, and having her join a younger, less competitive team. "Her mom told me, 'No. Missy wants to play with the big girls,'" Araujo said.

She thrived on the big stage but didn't always exude calmness. As expectations rose for her and competition stiffened, sometimes she couldn't maintain composure.

"She was all emotions," Vargas said. "If she would do something wrong, she would get upset because she wanted to do it correctly."

Araujo taught her to master her emotions in order to be calm on the field. He told her there are three stages of transformation all players go through to achieve mental toughness: You start off as a marshmallow, a soft athlete; then a jelly bean, hard on the outside and soft on the inside; then you become a rock.

"The rock was that player that was hard all the time. It didn't matter the moment or the expectations," Araujo said.

She played and played, determined to become the rock. She helped her club team win the 14U National Championship.

But by middle school, Taukeiaho's world had shattered. Her father became absent from her life. She became a shield for her two younger sisters, despite her suffering.

"It was definitely hard for all of us," said Taukeiaho's youngest sister, Vanessa, who will play softball at the University of Oklahoma. "She acted as much of a leader as she could, although we knew that she was hurting. We look up to her so much."

She sucked in her pain and never talked about it. She was forced to grow up quickly.

"It's hard for everything to come down on someone so young," Vargas said. "She took a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders that she didn't need to, but she felt that she had to."

Softball became her escape, as the game would never leave her. Her teammates and coaches became her second family. The size of the field, the plate, the number on her jersey, warm-up drills, bats, gloves – it was the same each day.

"I could go to the field and I didn't have to think about anything; I could just play for hours," Taukeiaho said. "It's my place where it's peace.

"It has always been my saving grace," she said.

She starred at Etiwanda High School and the prestigious Firecrackers club program, earning an athletic scholarship to Pac-12 powerhouse University of Washington.

The jelly bean was on her way to becoming a rock. She wasn't there yet, as the pain still stung. Taukeiaho just didn't know that there could be more waiting for her.

Softball became something she dreaded. A freshman at Washington, she missed the fall portion of the season while nursing a back injury.

Taukeiaho eventually started 35 games, hitting .296 with six home runs, 20 RBIs and 27 runs for the Huskies. But she didn't see eye to eye with her coaching staff.

She was suspended from the team for a violation of team rules, and finally left the team for personal reasons.

Her peace was gone, and she wondered if she could ever retrieve it. She contemplated quitting the game, the one thing she could always count on. But her mother told her: "Keep going. Just keep going."

Taukeiaho transferred to Fullerton in 2014, where Araujo had become assistant coach the year prior.

She was apprehensive at first around her new team. Afraid of enduring another season like her first, she spent most of her time at home rather than on campus.

But on the field, Taukeiaho dominated from the lead-off position, earning All-American and Big West player of the year honors. Her 62 runs broke Fullerton's single-season record while her 19 home runs ranked No. 2. Her 51 RBIs ranked No. 6, and her .429 batting average ranked No. 9.

Despite missing several games due to injury the next season, she was once again named an All-American with a .390 clip, .728 slugging percentage, adding 12 homers, 53 hits, 41 RBIs, 10 doubles and 32 runs.

She began to open up to her teammates and make friends. Her confidence returned, and she enjoyed the game again.

Boasting a .384 clip and a .688 slugging percentage, plus 32 runs, 22 RBIs, 17 doubles and five homers so far this season, Taukeiaho has become a vocal leader on the team, which is aiming for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Taukeiaho's third-inning grand slam powered the Titans to a 12-2 victory over UC Riverside on Sunday. She went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

"I really think she got true peace of mind when she came here," Araujo said. "I can really see it in her eyes that she was in a good place. There was tranquility, not only with her home life but with her athletic life. It all just clicked when she came here. She just felt like she belonged."

She has inspired her sisters, as she will become the first member of her family to graduate from college. She is majoring in kinesiology. But Taukeiaho's path is still not easy. Her grandfather, one of her biggest supporters, died last year. Two of her club coaches recently died.

"I have the inner strength to deal with whatever's next," said Taukeiaho, who will become an undergraduate assistant coach for Fullerton next season. She also aspires to play professionally.

She has become the rock she always wanted to be.