Ask any athlete, the road to success is rarely without obstacles. Success comes from consistency, determination and the perseverance to not only overcome these obstacles, but to grow and develop from them. Just ask the Whittier, California product Mandie Perez, because she is a walking testimony to this.
 
Perez came to the University of Arizona as a high touted recruit, ranking 48th in the ESPN top 100 softball players in the country. But even while being recruited by other top programs, she knew there was something special about the U of A after her first visit.
 
"When I stepped on this campus, when I got to walk around McKale and when I got to be around Coach Candrea and the girls that were there already, they really made it feel like it was just all me," Perez said. "They paid attention to me, they made me feel like I didn't want to leave here, and I didn't."
 
After quickly figuring out the U of A was the place for her, she didn't waste any time convincing the school they wanted her here as well. Her freshman year, she started 55 games, led all Pac-12 freshman in batting average with a .292 mark, was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team, and was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
 
The sky seemed to be the limit for Perez.
 
But as quickly as she found success, she found every athletes worst nightmare; at the beginning of her sophomore year she tore her ACL while doing a drill in practice. This is a nightmare she still remembers very well to this day.
 
"We were doing rundowns and I remember I caught the ball between first and second," Perez recalls. "I caught it and I'm taking steps towards the runner and I'm looking at Kellie Fox waiting for her to tell me to throw the ball. I take a step to throw it with my left leg, and Kellie looked at me like she wanted to throw up. I felt my knee pop, everyone heard a pop, and I just collapsed."
 
Staring at surgery and six months of intense physical therapy is a daunting outlook for anyone. And while Perez claims it was without question one of the hardest things she has ever gone through, it also help drive her to want success even more than she already did.
 
"It gave me more desire," Perez said. "The first day I got cleared, the doctor and trainer told me to take it easy, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to be scared of it, I just wanted to go… I feel the strongest, and I feel so accomplished and important when I get to play my sport. So when it got taken away I was just like I don't want this feeling ever again."
 
After missing the 2014 season due to the injury, she came back in 2015 ready to play. She earned her way back into the starting lineup, starting the last 26 games of the season, and was once again named an All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
 
She then rode her comeback season momentum into a superb 2016. She was named to the first-team All-Pac-12 team and to the second-team NFCA all-west region team. As the team's leadoff hitter she hit a career high 11 home runs (second most on the team), had 11 doubles, and 12 stolen bases. These totals made her the first wildcat since 2012 to be a part of the 10-10-10 club.
 
While she enjoyed the on field success she had worked so hard for, she was even more excited to finally show how strong of a leader she could be.
 
"When I got to the U of A I wasn't technically a leader anymore because there were upper classmen ahead of me, so I had to learn how to fall in line, and then step up when my time came," Perez said. "I knew I had it in me, so I was just super excited by the time I got to be seen as a leader here at this campus. I knew I was going to take it full force."
 
Perez isn't the only who knew she was ready to be a team leader. Head coach Mike Candrea saw first hand the hard work she put to get where she is today, both as a player and a leader.
 
"Mandie is a very competitive young lady that has worked extremely hard to be the player and leader that she is today," Coach Candrea said. "Mandie leads by example, and is always prepared to give her very best whether that is on the field playing the game or in her scrubs to prepare for her nursing career."
 
Going into this year Perez sees herself as the tone-setter for the team. Being a redshirt senior, she knows the standard the team needs to hold themselves to in order to achieve their goals..
 
"I always want to set the tone," Perez said. "Even when we're not doing good. I always want to try and be the person who tries to bring us back the standard we have because we've set it so high after last year."
 
In order to set the right tone, Perez feels the most important part is remaining consistent.
 
"That's my whole goal, is to have people, my coaches and everyone else look at me and just say she's consistent," Perez said.
 
Perez believes that if she and team can remain consistent, and keep the tone at the standard they need to hold themselves too, the road to Oklahoma City will come with it.
 
"[Our goal] is to make it to Oklahoma City," Perez said. "I'm tired of just making it to Supers and watching the rest from home. We want to go to Oklahoma City."
 
The Wildcats start up their 2017 campaign Feb. 9 at the Hillenbrand Invitational. We're looking forward to following them on their road to Oklahoma City.