Thrust into the spotlight
By Jason Mackey
After Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh's first outing in the baseball epic “Bull Durham,” Bulls manager Joe Riggins bemoans the fact that LaLoosh might've struck out 18 batters, but he also walked 18 -- both “new league records.”The early part of the 2008 softball season hasn't been quite as radical for Annandale freshman Izzy Yaroch, but the young pitcher/shortstop has certainly seen her share of ups and downs.
Yaroch had a LaLoosh-like outing in last Wednesday's 18-8 win over Falls Church, as she struck out and walked 15 batters, which prompted an immediate call to her personal pitching coach.
“I called him and told him that I had a really bad game, and he said he could see me in 15 minutes,” said Yaroch, who has posted 50 strikeouts in 35.1 innings this season. “I went over there and he fixed me.”
Yaroch was “stepping out of her power line,” but corrected the issue in time to face two of the elder stateswomen among Northern Region softball pitchers -- South County's Paulina Gregorowicz and Chelsey Dunham -- last Friday at Annandale's Ossian Hall Park.
Despite a 3-0 loss to the Stallions, Yaroch still mixed up her pitches and drew praise from veteran South County coach Al Thompson.
“She really shut us down. She was pitching well,” he said. “She's just a great kid, she has a great family and she's a big asset at Annandale.”
As if toeing the circle every day as a freshman wasn't enough, Yaroch has also served as the team's No. 3 hitter -- a spot in the lineup usually reserved for the most complete hitter on a team.
In that same Falls Church game, Yaroch accomplished something that LaLoosh never did, posting a 5-for-5 performance and a triple. The freshman is hitting .375 (9-for-24) on the season.
“She'll do anything,” said Annandale coach Tom Grant, whose young team is 1-7 overall, 0-2 in the Patriot District after a 1-0 loss to Hayfield Tuesday night. “Being a freshman, she's very mature and she's taken on the starting pitcher position without any gripes.”
Annandale will look to turn it around as it boasts experience at two key positions with senior catcher Glenda Ngo (a second team All-District selection in 2007) and senior centerfielder/shortstop Tammy Pham.
With the game still scoreless in the top of the fourth inning last Friday, South County junior Ashley Ward dropped a bloop single in front of second base.
Pham used her outfield intuition, dove and came up with a mouthful of dirt, but the ball ultimately tipped off of her glove and resulted in what became the winning run for South County (5-3, 2-0 Patriot).
“The last three years, [Tammy] has played everywhere,” said Grant, whose team will travel to West Potomac for a 6:30 p.m. affair Friday. “We expect a lot out of her. You tell her to do something, she'll go do it. She may not be the best athlete, but she gives 100 percent all the time.”