Adara Opiola enjoys leading UNI softball team

CEDAR FALLS — Sammey Bunch isn’t the only fifth-year senior leading Northern Iowa softball toward its goal of a Missouri Valley Conference championship this season.

Adara Opiola, an All-Missouri Valley Conference performer herself, has teamed with Bunch to put the Panthers in position for a deep postseason run. And as formidable as the two are on the field, they're every bit as formidable off of it.

“Sammey is my best friend,” Opiola said. “We live together, we eat together, we do everything together. It’s kind of funny because it wasn’t always like that. We talk about the same things and notice the same things in games and we’re just really competitive.”

With the Panthers (22-15, 12-5) staff down an assistant due to pandemic-related budget cuts and the roster featuring a number of underclassmen, Opiola and Bunch have all but assumed player-coach roles this season. After both chose to return for a fifth year after the NCAA granted the extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic, a short-term mindset would be understandable, but the duo's love for the program has provoked them to think short and long-term this season.

“Sammey and I talk a lot about trying to develop our players for next year because they don’t have a lot of the senior leadership that Sammey and I had,” Opiola said. “Next year, for example, Sammey and I aren’t going to be here (and we’ll ask), ‘What are you going to do in this situation?’ So, it’s really just trying to instill confidence in them that they’re good leaders, they’re talented ballplayers and that they don’t need the leadership that we have, but for the time being take advantage of the knowledge that her and I have to give.”

On the field, Opiola has battled through a knee injury this season and made her way back into Coach Ryan Jacobs’ lineup regularly the past few weeks. Despite the injury, she sits third on the team in batting average (. 278) and RBIs (17) while also sporting a .420 on-base percentage.

When healthy, the Iowa City native — who will attend law school at Iowa in the fall — has been tasked with providing her best friend lineup protection as countless opponents have intentionally walked Bunch this season as she’s performed at an All-America level.

Earlier this month in UNI’s MVC home-opener, Opiola had one of her most satisfying moments of her collegiate career, hitting a grand slam after Bunch had just been intentionally walked for the third time by Evansville.

“If I can do what I can to just try and keep the bat in (Bunch’s) hands that’s really what goes through my mind more than anything,” Opiola said. “But there is also the chip-on-the-shoulder type of thing, thinking and feeling the disrespect from the other team. But, for me, it’s mostly about making sure Sammey gets more at-bats.”

Opiola and the Panthers host Bradley (15-15, 8-9) for a three-game series this weekend with a doubleheader at noon Saturday and single game at 1 p.m. Sunday (ESPN3).