ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SOFTBALLAMERICA.COM (Photo courtesy of UW Athletics)
It only took the first phone call with Heather Tarr for Ruby Meylan to determine that the University of Washington was going to be where her softball dreams could come true. Since Washington is a program that prioritizes setting national championship–level goals, there could not have been a better fit for someone as determined as Meylan.
“Washington was one of the first calls I made, and as soon as I got off that, I said, ‘Mom, I am going to go to Washington,’” Meylan said. “I just knew from the moment I talked to head coach Heather Tarr that the goals of this program and the culture that leads to competing for a national championship are what I (wanted to be a part of). I want to be with a group of people who are striving for the same thing as me.”
From the moment she put on a UW uniform, Meylan certainly took over as Washington’s ace. During her freshman campaign, she posted a 2.14 ERA with a record of 18-7. Throwing 15 complete games and recording 204 strikeouts, she ranked fourth in strikeouts in the Pac-12 this season.
But for Meylan, it was a hill to climb to reach her potential as a college pitcher. Throwing 180 innings in 2023, she took on more as a freshman than most pitchers do until later on in their college careers.
“I am really happy with my season, just because it wasn’t perfect,” Meylan said. “To go through as much as I did and have so many ups and downs, I feel like I learned so much about myself and being a college pitcher and how hard it is. Now, going into next season, I just feel like I am more experienced than a lot of other pitchers.”
And some of that valuable experience came at the 2023 Women's College World Series, where Meylan was able to get a taste of the biggest stage in the sport.
“It was something I have dreamed of my entire life,” Meylan said. “Getting that done my freshman year was really cool and it is something that I can base my next three years off of. I have experienced being on the biggest stage of college softball, so I think that it is the best part. It was so cool to be there and experience it so young, and now going forward, I know exactly what it’s like.”
In the meantime, Meylan is going to continue perfecting her pitches and improve upon her strength and conditioning in the offseason in order to help the Huskies get even further in 2024.
“As a pitcher who throws with high velocity, I just have to keep my strength up during the season, and it’s really hard when playing multiple games a day, since I lose muscle mass and lose weight,” Meylan said. “I think it did affect my pitching a little bit, so I am staying in the weight room a lot this offseason.”
With Meylan, Lindsay Lopez, Brooke Nelson and incoming freshmen in the circle for the Huskies in 2024, Meylan believes Washington will be a top national-title contender.
“I think we are going to be back in Oklahoma City,” Meylan said. “A lot of people probably think we are going to drop off because we are losing some pretty big bats, but it might be a different-style team. I think we are going to surprise a lot of people.”
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