Heavy Memory

Going back to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City meant Julie Adams reliving one of the greatest moments of her life--and one of the scariest.

Adams returned this week to Don Porter Hall of Fame Stadium, where a shoulder injury last year led to another surgery, threatening her Olympic dreams. It was no surprise that when the Bruins’ third baseman stepped onto the field, she did so with a sense of trepidation.

“It’s really surreal,” the Cypress High graduate said.

At first, her play was shaky. In the team’s 4-1 victory Thursday over Alabama, she was zero for three at the plate and made two errors. Friday’s game against top-seeded Washington was suspended because of lightning after five innings with the Bruins leading, 3-0, and is scheduled to be completed today.

A year ago, Adams separated her left shoulder sliding headfirst into second base in UCLA’s opening-round College World Series game against DePaul. Forty-eight hours later, she was back at third base. Two days after that, she scored the winning run in the Bruins’ 3-2 title-clinching victory over Washington.

She hit .565 throughout the NCAA playoffs and was named outstanding player of the World Series.

UCLA Coach Sue Enquist said she remembers that entire period as if it was yesterday.

“She was up all night because the treatment had to be done for 24 hours,” Enquist said. “To be honest, I didn’t think she’d be able to play.”

That didn’t cross Adams’ mind.

“The doctor there told me that I was done for the rest of the series,” she said. “Of course, that answer wasn’t acceptable for me.”

Hers was a heroic effort--but not without cost. She underwent her second reconstructive surgery on the shoulder that same week.

The first surgery had resulted in Adams redshirting the 1998 season. The second was necessary because she has a future in the sport, as a member of the Akron Racers of the Women’s Pro Softball League this year and, potentially, as member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team.

“If I was never going to play softball ever again, the reconstructive surgery was something I could do without,” Adams said. “I’m an athlete and my career is far from over.”

Adams went through an arduous rehabilitation. The initial timetable to return to the field was December.

In November, she felt some discomfort. After an examination, Adams learned that a needle had been left in her shoulder during the June operation.

Dr. Neal ElAttrache of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic performed another surgery, delicately extracting the needle that rested in her socket without going through the muscle that enables a person to lift his or her arm over the head.

“If they’d had to reconstruct again, I would have had to miss the year,” Adams said. “When I went in for the third time in November, they did what I call an obstacle course repair. They went around the whole bowl.”

Options had been laid out beforehand. If everything went right, returning at the start of the season was possible. If they had to cut through the muscle, the best Adams could hope for would be returning in May for the World Series--if the Bruins went that far.

There was also the possibility of a second medical redshirt, but Adams says the chances of the NCAA granting it would have been slim.

The surgery was a success but Adams was still scarred emotionally.

“Mentally, it took me a while [to come back],” Adams recalled. “Knowing that I’d gone through reconstructive surgery and did everything I was supposed to do, and it’s like I’m told everything you’ve just done, just throw that out the door.

“I just took some time away from the field. Mentally, I was a mess.”

Senior catcher Julie Marshall saw what Adams was going through.

“Oh, it was really draining for her emotionally,” Marshall said. “I was there at those times when she had to go under the knife.

“But there was no doubt in my mind that she was going to come back. I’m so proud of her because she could have just said, ‘That’s it.’ ”

Adams made it back in February and has played in all but six of the team’s 57 games. A first-team All-American last year, her comeback hasn’t always been triumphant.

Adams’ numbers--.290 batting average, five home runs, 30 runs batted in--are well off her 1999 totals of .379, 16 homers and 61 RBIs.

Enquist said that doesn’t matter and that she had to make sure Adams knew it didn’t matter.

“She’s a player who thought she was a leader because she got it done on the field,” the coach said. “But she’s done so many things right in this program and she’s been an example of what a student-athlete should be at UCLA.”

Adams is coming off a six-for-11, eight-RBI performance in the NCAA regional at UCLA last weekend. She went four for four with three RBIs in a 6-1 semifinal-round win over Florida State.

Adams said she doesn’t try to do anything special when the games become more important.

“It’s not like I’m trying to take my game to another level because you should always play at that level,” she said. “I’m four to six months behind everyone else and now I’m catching up. I’m not complaining about getting hot at this time, that’s for sure.”

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Profile

A closer look at UCLA softball player Julie Adams:

* Position: Third base.

* Class: Senior.

* This season: Hitting .290 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in. All-Pacific 10 honorable mention.

* Last season: Hit .379 with 16 home runs and 61 RBIs. Selected first-team All-American, first-team All-Pac-10.

* Other facts: Graduated from Cypress High in 1995. Has undergone three operations on her left shoulder during her UCLA career.