Tamara Statman is fresh off the biggest moment of her young career, a walk-off hit that led Arizona to an NCAA Regional win at Tennessee last week.
Wednesday she walked up to a full-blown media horde: Four television cameras and a few recorders were stuck in her face. Before a question was asked, Statman looked to a reporter and cracked, “You know, from far away you kind of look like my dad.”
She laughed, then paused.
“You’re not my dad.”
That’s Tamara Statman, a 5-foot-5-inch bundle of comedic energy on an Arizona Wildcats softball team that’s heading into a Super Regional series at Auburn this weekend.
“What’s my personality?” she said, laughing. “It’s out there. It’s all over the place.”
Tamara — everyone calls her “T” — is one of the best to pitch at Scottsdale’s Horizon High School, but she’s not all softball.
People are also reading…
Statman sports large, dark-rimmed glasses and hosts a student radio show, where she talks about sports, news and politics. She writes a political blog for the Huffington Post and holds a third-degree black belt in Olympic taekwondo.
She wears jersey No. 88 because, well, her rabbi told her it meant good luck.
As a high school senior Statman attended both a GOP presidential debate viewing party and a Bernie Sanders town hall meeting. Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are making news this election season, but “T” is thinking beyond 2016. All the way to 2036, or later.
“I want to be a political pundit,” Statman said. “Well, actually, I want to be president.”
Statman wants to be the leader of the free world, and that’s not even a recent development. She read political books when she was 9 years old, and as she grew older came up with a presidential campaign slogan: “Vote Tamara for a Better Tomorrow.”
“Maybe I’ll go ‘T-Stat, that’s where it’s at,’” she said. “You just have to rhyme.”
Mike Candrea appreciates her aplomb.
“Anyone that has the guts to say they’re going to be president of the United States, that’s pretty gutsy for a high school kid,” the UA coach said. “(It’s) not just one year — she said that on her e-mails for like four years — so I started thinking, ‘Maybe this kid believes she can be.’ ”
Statman has already done some campaigning.
At Horizon, Statman struck out 1,071 batters from 43 feet away, a state record.
As a junior, she started a “T’s Ks” campaign to benefit the Arizona Skin Cancer Foundation. The goal was to get people to donate as little as 5 cents for every batter she struck out. The money added up: She struck out 289 as a junior and 279 as a senior.
As a junior, she helped raise $55,000; she’s unsure how much came in when she was a senior.
It was a personal campaign. Statman’s father, Davin, has undergone multiple surgeries to remove skin cancer; as a sophomore in high school, Statman had surgery to remove a growth in her right arm. She still has an inch-long scar and wears sleeves when she plays to avoid complications.
Statman hasn’t pitched a single inning for the Wildcats this year, but she’s still contributing. As the designated player, Statman is hitting .288 with four home runs and 24 RBIs, none bigger than that last one against Tennessee.
She’ll be asked to do even more against Auburn, the Southeastern Conference tournament champions.
Before Statman headed off to watch film of Auburn with her teammates on Wednesday, a reporter asked her what it was like, being a freshman, working hard all season, and seeing it all culminate with that big moment, a walk-off hit in the NCAA tournament.
“It’s funny, because everybody keeps talking about, ‘Oh, you’re a freshman; oh, you’re a freshman’ and you come in and do this,” Statman said. “But we’re all kind of one unit. Our team, you come in and do the work and it’s been …”
Pause.
Then, Statman laughs uncontrollably.
“Wait, I forgot the question.”
In fairness, she’s got a lot on her mind.
With two wins this weekend, the Wildcats can earn a spot in the Women’s College World Series.
Statman wants to get there, badly.
That’s Tamara, for a Better Tomorrow.
