Willy\u2019s Rockies lost the World Series to the Boston Red Sox that season. But on that hallowed ground, the Taveras family got to bring baby Marina to the field. She will never remember those moments, but they would be immortalized in photos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe looks at the photos and she sees (David) Ortiz holding her,\u201d Willy says. \u201cWe have one of her and Matt Holiday\u2019s son, Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now at Colgate, Marina is slashing .339\/.397\/.726 through her first 20 games and is tied for the team lead with six homers, as of press time. Those numbers have earned her two Patriot League rookie of the week nods. And she\u2019s coming for the Raider record books next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first-year home run record for a Colgate softball player is 13. Marina is on pace for 15 \u2014 and that\u2019s not even including Patriot League tournament games. If she hits 16, she would tie the single-season record by any Raider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The key to Marina\u2019s prolific start has been her swing. The swing that has hardly changed over her career. The swing that makes the same clunk on the softball nearly every time. The swing she developed with her dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe definitely had a ton of influence with my swing and what it turned into,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t touch it because he helped me with it, so I don\u2019t really want to change anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout Marina\u2019s career leading up to Colgate, Willy was her only coach. But now, 1,500 miles from her Texas home, she\u2019s had to adjust to life away from him. She takes input from her Colgate coaches, but still gets advice from her dad too. \u201cHe\u2019s still coaching me even though we\u2019re so far [apart].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes Marina and the Colgate softball staff will talk about her mechanics. Whenever one of them makes a suggestion, they\u2019re usually met with the same response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSometimes we\u2019ll suggest something to her and she\u2019ll say \u2018my dad told me the same thing,\u2019\u201d Colgate softball head coach Marisa Lamison-Myers says. \u201cIf we\u2019re saying the same thing he is, we\u2019re probably doing something right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the coaching paid off quickly. In her first collegiate plate appearance, Marina smashed a home run over the left-center field wall. She wasn\u2019t trying to hit one over the fence, but her swing drove the ball farther than she meant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n