Senior Butler softball player Devin Dearing waited at the plate during the eighth inning of Sunday’s second game of a doubleheader against Fordham.
“Hit Me Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears rang through the stadium speakers as pinch runner Devin Brierly jogged to second base.
On the first pitch of the at-bat, Dearing hit a double to drive in Brierly for the walk-off win.
Dearing is just one of many Butler players who uses their walk-up song to gain extra confidence.
“It helps in not realizing the pressure of the situation,” Dearing said.
Many players have different takes on the idea of walk-up songs. Dearing said her song reflects her relaxed personality, which helps her get in the zone at the plate.
Walk-up songs are also used to get hitters excited for their at-bat, said senior first baseman Jimmy Risi.
“You have to find a song that pumps you up but also keeps you relaxed and not too amped up,” Risi said.
Risi uses the song “Pretty Handsome Awkward” by The Used to get him ready. Risi said his is one of the more serious songs of all the players.
“Mine is a little more serious and gets me pumped,” Risi said. “But there are some guys who have some goofy songs.”
Junior Marcos Calderon uses the hip-hop song “Goodies” by female artist Ciara.
“Walk-up songs match your personality, and I’m not the most serious guy,” Calderon said.
“It’s important to play relaxed and have a good time when you’re playing. You have to be serious, but you have to enjoy it.”
Calderon, the leadoff hitter, said “Goodies” helps the team relax at the beginning of the game because it brings them back to their middle school days when the song first came out.
“It brings you back to when baseball was easy, school was easy and everything was easy, and it just kind of brings a smile to your face,” Calderon said.
Freshman softball player Riley Carter uses a hip-hop remix of “O Canada.”
Carter, from Uxbridge, Ontario, said a friend from home told her to use something that says “Canada” in it, and she remembered how they used to listen to the song when they were younger.
“When I hear it I get kind of pumped,” Carter said. “It reminds me of home, and I feel good.”
Senior Jenny Esparza organized the girls’ walk-up songs and said she had her teammates pick songs that help them get ready at the plate.
“It can either be what the words mean that actually pump them up or just the beat,” Esparza said.
Senior baseball catcher Radley Haddad said walk-up songs can be approached in two different ways. Some players like to have fun and put on a song that gets the crowd going, like Calderon, Haddad said.
“Marcos is just trying to get in a relaxed mood,” Haddad said. “Last year he used a Gloria Estefan song.”
Haddad said his approach is to be a little more serious and focus in with a song that gets him pumped up. He uses the song “Breaking a Sweat” by Skrillex, a mash-up of an old Doors song.
“I heard it at a Reds game last summer, and I liked it and thought it could be a song for me,” Haddad said. “Players are always thinking about what their next walk-up will be.”
Haddad said no matter what approach hitters take, walk-up songs are a fun aspect of the game.