Young softball pitching staff adjusting to college competition


softball_main

Sophomore pitcher Rachael Knapp throws to a Ball State batter March 28 at Margo Jonker Stadium.

In many cases, a softball team will only go as far as its pitching staff will allow. This has been the case with the Central Michigan University softball team this spring.

Youthful and inexperienced pitchers make up the majority of the rotation which lacks a great amount of time pitching at the Division-I level.

“I think we have a great pitching staff,” said Head Coach Margo Jonker. “I’m excited about our (group) for this year and in the future.”

Anchoring the youthful Chippewas pitching staff this season has been sophomore Rachael Knapp. A native of St. Joseph, Knapp leads the staff with 19 appearances this season.

She said it is difficult and daunting starting fast-pitch softball games at the Division-I level, especially as a player with less experience under her belt.

“It’s difficult. It’s very mentally taxing,” Knapp said. “I feel like you just work so hard at it. You just (need to) perform.”

Confidence is key for any position on the diamond, but the pressure is always felt from within the pitcher’s circle. Knapp said along with the rest of the pitching staff, continues to get better as the season presses on.

“We have gotten progressively better,” she said. “We’re very young. I’m a sophomore and two girls that just came in are freshmen.”

Knapp is coming off of an impressive weekend that earned her the title of Mid-American Conference’s Softball Pitcher of the Week.

She was 4-1 with three complete-game victories, including a 1-0 shutout against the University of Akron on Saturday. She earned a record of 9-6 and an earned run average of 2.14.

Accompanying Knapp on the pitching staff are freshmen Hanna Warren and Taylor Weaver.

Warren has started nine games in 2015, tossing four complete-games in the process, going 3-7 with a 4.67 earned run average. Weaver’s earned run average sits at 5.54. She has a record of 1-3 through six starts and two complete games.

Time will be a good indicator, according to Jonker, of how well her young staff of throwers will work through their progression as collegiate athletes.

“It’s just a matter of getting them some game experience,” Jonker said. “For the freshmen, (it’s) making the adjustment to Division I. It’s quite a jump from high school ball to Division-I.”

At this point in the season, CMU is ranked third in the MAC in overall earned run average with a mark of 3.43 behind Akron and Kent State University.

 

Share: