How Florida State's Isa Torres became a record-breaking hitter - ESPN

THE FLORIDA STATE coaching staff watched the way shortstop Isa Torres worked during the offseason and became more impressed with each passing day. She may have earned All-America honors and set the school record for batting average as a sophomore, but she was still asking pointed questions about how and where she could improve.

They worked with her in the batting cages to improve her ability to hit pitches from the middle of the strike zone inside, one of her bigger weaknesses. They helped her study opposing pitchers so that she could anticipate what pitches she would see and when.

Torres had put in so much work, the coaches allowed themselves to imagine the possibilities as the season inched closer.

«Do you think she can hit .500?» Travis Wilson remembers asking fellow Seminoles assistant Troy Cameron.

Without hesitation, Cameron blurted out, «Yes.»

Torres has done that and more, smashing career, school and NCAA records along the way. As the Seminoles enter Super Regional play, Torres is hitting .542 — a whopping 106 points better than the record .436 she set a year ago. She has nearly doubled her home runs from nine to 16, and has more RBIs, runs scored, doubles and triples. Her increased power has translated into a 1.012 slugging percentage — nearly 500 points higher than last year.

«She was hitting the ball well in the fall and then the two weeks leading up to the season, it was like, 'If there was ever someone that could do it, she was showing all the signs that she could,» Wilson said. «To throw out, 'Hey, she's going to do it,' is a big, bold call. But she's blown it out of the park.»

But what Wilson and the staff never imagined is that an injury would be the catalyst for her rise into the record books.

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