Rutgers-Newark Athletics

By Jim Hague

Talk about a relentless pursuit in the sake of college recruiting.

Rutgers-Newark head softball coach Patty Clarke remembers seeing a hard-working sophomore shortstop for a travel team in Bethlehem, Pa. named Tiara Santi.

“I really liked her playing travel ball and stayed with her,” Clarke said.

“She came to one of my tournaments and sold me on the place,” Santi said.

Santi had other offers, but liked Rutgers-Newark when she visited the campus.

“I had four other schools interested in me, but I just really wanted to come here,” Santi said. “I wanted to get a good education.”

Santi wanted to carry a tough double major in psychology and criminal justice.

Clarke knew she had a shortstop. But the coach had to wait for Santi to truly emerge as a top player.

“She was kind of okay just being invisible,” Clarke said. “I think she had a tough time figuring out what she wanted to do, both academically and athletically.”

Santi admitted that she had a bit of a tough time.

“When I first came here, I wasn’t that successful,” Santi said. “I had a rough transition here.”

Santi sort of languished for her first three years, but something clicked prior to her senior year.

“She embraced the leadership role,” Clarke said. “She’s become a tremendous leader and she inspires the entire team. She’s the boss lady now. She finally figured herself out. She knows what she wants to do and what she wants to be. She’s always ready to be here and do the job.”

Santi is enjoying a solid start to her senior campaign, batting .545 with six hits, three runs scored and an RBI.

“Sure, it’s early in the season, but she is absolutely crushing the ball,” Clarke said. “She’s tearing it up. She’s leading us in hitting and leading us on the field as well. She’s really coming into her own. She was fine with being invisible last year, but now, she’s the leader of the pack.”

Clarke said that Santi made a promise to her before the season.

“She said, `Coach, it’s not going to be the same as last year,’” Clarke said. “She rededicated herself. She came in more fit. I knew that she worked hard in the offseason.”

Santi said that she had to work hard over the summer, because she suffered an ankle injury that required surgery.

“I had to come back from a lot of injuries,” Santi said. “I brought my body back to where it should be. I did a lot of running and weight lifting over the summer. I worked on my lateral movement.”

Santi also realized that this was her final go-round.

“I knew I had to pick it up,” Santi said. “I was the captain and I should act like a captain. I wanted to go out with a bang. It just all kind of hit me. I’m the shortstop, so I have to be the boss. I’m going to assume that role as best as I can.”

Clarke said that Santi has helped team camaraderie among the Scarlet Raiders.

One of the team activities is working the concession stands at the soccer games in the fall and the men’s and women’s basketball games in the winter. All of the proceeds of the concession stand goes to the softball program so that they can take their annual sojourn to Florida, which will begin this weekend.

Santi was one of the most diligent workers at the concession stands.

“I think it helps them get along, because they have to work together,” Clarke said. “It’s a good thing for the team. I think the team notices what Tiara does. She’s a tremendous leader.”

There’s another side to Santi that not a lot of people know. She has fun naming the pieces of softball equipment that the Scarlet Raiders use.

For example, the pitching machine is called “that guy,” and Tiara’s favorite bat is called “Scarlett.”

“I wanted it to be a girl’s name,” Santi said. “It’s a red bat. We all name everything. It just tends to loosen things up a little.”

Santi will graduate on time in May with her double major.

“It hasn’t been easy carrying both,” Santi said. “But I managed.”

Santi plans to head to graduate school after getting her degree from Rutgers-Newark and hopes to become a coach or a professor of criminology when she enters the work field.

“I can’t believe that it’s almost all over,” Santi said. “I wouldn’t change anything for the world. I feel sad in one respect and I’m loving it in another. I think Rutgers helped me grow as a person and I have a lot of good experiences and good memories here.”

“She’s really made this year fun,” Clarke said. “I love the way she’s transformed into a leader.”