We finish the last full week in March by going to the Northeast to profile a 6-foot-2 pitcher who plays for one of the top club teams in the country and has decided where she’ll play at the next level.  We also honor a high school coach whose team is rated No. 1 and he reached a milestone victory just last night!  We also look at a team that’s lost a couple games, but is certainly one not to overlook come playoff time…

 

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PLAYER PROFILE: SARAH DAWSON

Grad Year: 2015
Pos: pitcher
High School: Bridgewater-Raynham (Bridgewater, Mass.)
GPA: 4.1 on a 4.8 scale
Club: Rhode Island Thunder-Lotti
Stats: In 2013 went 23-1 with a 0.81 ERA and 198 K’s in 155 innings and only 22 walks allowed.
Honors: led team to 2013 Div. I South finals, Mass Old Colony HS League MVP, Boston Globe All-Scholastic Player, Boston Herald All-Scholastic Player, Taunton Gazette 2013 Player of the Year
College: Pitt

 

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StudentSportsSoftball.com: You reportedly stand 6-foot-2 in the circle, which has to be intimidating to batters… have you always been taller than the rest of your age group?
Sarah Dawson: Always. Ever since I began playing sports as a child, I was always a head taller than all of my teammates.

 

SSS.com:  With such impressive height, have you played other sports where that can be a benefit like basketball and volleyball?
SD: I tried playing basketball when I was in the 5th and 6th grades, but I quickly discovered that basketball was not my sport. As to volleyball, the first time it was offered to me was when I became a freshman, but my fall softball schedule was always too busy for me to play a fall sport.

 

SSS.com: Last height question (promise!)… Does being taller help as a pitcher in terms of angles, leverage, delivery, etc. do you think?
SD: Absolutely! Having long arms, long legs, and long fingers definitely helps in all aspects of pitching. Being so tall, it’s much easier to get the angles that you need on certain pitches.

 

SSS.com: You committed to Pitt right around the holidays… was that intentional or did the timing just happen to be then?
SD: The timing of my verbal and the holidays was totally coincidental. I knew I wanted to verbal sometime towards the end of the year around October-December, and it was actually kind of like a late Christmas gift seeing as how I gave my verbal two days after Christmas.

SSS.com:  Tell us how you were first seen by the coaches, then how long until they offered?
SD: The coaches first saw me play at a tournament in St. Louis during October. They also saw me play when I was in Florida at the beginning of November, and then they decided to invite me out for a visit during the middle of November. They offered me when I went out to visit the campus.

 

SSS.com: When did you decide to commit and what led into the decision?
SD: I decided to commit at the end of December. I had thought about what I really wanted in a school, and I realized that Pitt had everything that I was looking for. After coming home from my visit at Pitt, I instantly wanted to go back. That’s when I really knew that Pitt was the school for me.

 

SSS.com: What were the circumstances of your telling them—was it in person, on the phone, some other way?
SD: I verballed via a phone call to the head coach, Holly Aprile.

 

 

SSS.com: This had to be the perfect way to end your year!  What was going through your mind in the moments before you told them you’d be a Panther?
SD: It was! Beginning the year as a committed athlete was such a cool feeling. Right before I called my coach, all I was thinking about was what I was going to say. I wanted it to sound official, but I ended up stumbling on my words and nervously laughing. Thank God my coach laughed too, so I wasn’t too embarrassed.

SSS.com: How far away from home will be?  Was distance a factor in your decision at all?
SD: I think its 13 hours away by car. But by plane it’s only one hour. Distance wasn’t that much of a factor, seeing as how I don’t get too homesick when I go away. But the thing that was so important to me in a school was that it was in a city, and Pitt is right in the city of Pittsburgh which I loved.

 

SSS.com:  What have coaches/scouts commented to you about your game that they like?
SD: The comments that I’ve heard the most by coaches/scouts were comments about my height and my potential, which is really cool. All of the coaches that I ever talked to were surprised at how tall I was to them in person.

 

SSS.com: Looking back on your softball career, what’s a memory or two that jumps to mind?
SD: There are two distinct memories that I have looking back on my softball career. The first was four years ago when my 12U team had made it to the Massachusetts Regional Championship game. Prior to that game, I was never the go-to pitcher on my team; I mostly sat the bench. But when my coaches made the decision to give me the game, it gave me the confidence that I was good enough to pitch any game. It changed me as a player.

The second memory was this past fall when I played with my team in Florida. We ended up playing against the SoCal A’s and my coaches decided to throw me that game. It was the first time that I had ever seen that many college coaches behind the backstop watching a single game. We ended up tying them 1-1 in a great game, which I’ll never forget.

 

Quick Hitters

 

Where do you see yourself after your softball career is over? 
Working at a major company in a city somewhere.

Being a Boston-area girl, what makes you most proud to be from that area? 
Because of incidents like the Marathon, I’ve most proud of the ways that my city can come together to support one another in times of crisis.

What do you think is the most serious issue facing your generation at this point?
I think the most serious issue is how technology continues to consume the social skills of my generation.

Favorite food:
Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo Pasta.

Least favorite food:
Meatloaf/

Favorite place in the world:
Boston, Mass.!

What pitch do you throw when you really need an out (and why)?
Probably my screwball, because it’s my favorite pitch to throw.

If you have a free night off the field, what do you do for entertainment?
I usually go out to eat with my friends, or watch movies on the couch.

What’s something unusual or different about you that few know of?
I actually enjoy reading in my free time.

Describe, in one word, yourself on the field…. And off the field.
On the field: focused. Off the field: social.

If you were stranded on a desert island and could only take one thing with you, what would it be?
I’d probably bring my phone so I would have something to occupy my time with.

Who’s the smartest person you know?
My friend Sydney. She’s definitely a genius.

State your philosophy of life in one sentence: 
Always try your best in everything you do, hard work always pays off in the end. 

 

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HIGH SCHOOL:  BIG WEEK IN N.C. FOR MONTE SHERRILL

*** With 699 wins under his belt, Head Coach Monte Sherrill of Alexander Central High in Taylorsville, N.C. had seen it all so he wasn’t concerned when fell behind 2-0 to West Iredell (Statesville, N.C.) in the first inning.

Not surprisingly, the top team in North Carolina pounded away for 16 runs over the last inning to make it an 18-3 laugher and give Coach Sherrill a milestone victory-his 700^th in his career.

Standout senior middle infielder Taylor Wike, who has signed with North Carolina and was the State 4A Player of the Year last season, had four hits and senior third baseman Averi Miller, who is headed to Lenior Rhyne, had two home runs to pace the offense.

Making the week even sweeter for Sherrill is the fact that USA/NCSA High School rankings that came out earlier in the week had Central ranked No. 1 in the country.

Our Student Sports FAB 50 from yesterday has Central No. 4 in the nation.

The milestone win gives the coach a tremendous 700-59 career record covering 24 years as a coach. In every he’s been a head coach Sherrill has won at least 22 games and, most incredibly, Of the last 22 seasons he’s been a high school coach, his teams have been in the State Finals 12 times and won 10 of them.

Perhaps most importantly than the 700^th win is that fact that he has two daughters on the team, Vada and Bailey, who are having outstanding season.

Baily had two hits in last night’s game, a stat she can always state proudly as helping her father reach another big milestone in his coaching career.

To read more on the Alexander Central program, click here.

 

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HIGH SCHOOL: DON’T FALL ASLEEP ON PACIFICA HIGH

Although Pacifica High (Garden Grove, Calif.) lost last Saturday for the second time this month to top ranked Mission Viejo, Calif., and dropped in the FAB 50 from No. 2 to No. 9, there was a strong caveat to the second loss:  the Mariners were without one of their star players, Florida signee Nicole DeWitt, who was out because of a concussion she suffered the week before.

DeWitt came back with a vengeance this week hitting .857, going 6-for-7 with a walk, four runs scored, two home runs and six RBI.  She’s now hitting .600 on the season with three home runs.

Next week, Pacifica will play in the prestigious Michelle Carew Classic Tournament which it won the last two years, beating Los Alamitos in 2012 and Yorba Linda in 2013.  North Carolina signee Kaylee Carlson was twice named the Tournament Most Valuable Pitcher and DeWitt was named the Tournament MVP last year. (Rebecca Lee was MVP in 2012).

It’s entirely likely Pacifica could again take the tournament and gain momentum that will take them through the playoffs.  Let’s put it this way: last year’s No. 1 ranked team at the end of the year was Red Mountain (Mesa, Ariz.) which had five total losses.  With a healthy line-up the Mariners could beat anyone, even a loaded Mission Viejo team that right now looks unbeatable.

But DeWitt and Carlson aren’t the only stars on the Pacifica High team… here’s a look at how some other key players did this past week on Coach Mark Campbell’s team:

— Faith Canfield (2015, Michigan) batted 1.000 with 1.000 on base percentage, was 4-for-4 with a sac fly, stolen base, three runs scored, a double and five RBIs this past week in league play.  Faith is batting .486 with two home runs this season.

— Irienanna Naea (2016, Cal State Fullerton) batted .833 with .833 on base percentage; was 5-for-6 with two home runs, two doubles, four runs scored and six rbis this past week in league play.  Irie is batting .417 on the season with four home runs this season.

— Brooke Marquez (2014, Northwestern) batted .500 with a double and a stolen base and she also has a  .750 on base percentage as she walked once and was hit by a pitch three times this week.  Brooke is batting .375 with three doubles on the season.

Pitching: Both Carlson and Kaley Winegarner (2015, Stanford) suffered losses to No. 1 Missing Viejo, in fact 10 of the 12 runs Pacifica has allowed came at the hands of the Diablos, but Pacifica’s overall pitching performances have been lights out this season.

Kaylee Carlson is 9-1 with a 0.73 ERA with 68 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched and as Winegarner continues to get stronger after coming back from an ACL injury, Pacifica is just as tough as ever to score against.

Winegarner is now 2-1 with a 1.28 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched.   Carlson combined on a no-hitter and Winegarner combined on a shutout this past week with freshman pitcher Hannah Boos.

 

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RECRUITING PROFILE OF THE DAY: HANNAH CHEW

High school: Maria Carrillo High School
City: Santa Rosa
State: Calif.
Grad year: 2016
Club: Sorcerer 16U – Bill Schroll
Height: 5-7
Position(s): C/1B

Have you committed to college? “Still looking!”
Stats & Honors: Starting varsity catcher as a freshman 2013 and again as sophomore 2014; NBL Champs 2013 – 1st Team All League 2013; 3rd Team All Empire 2013; Top 15 finish at PGF Nationals 14U as starting pickup catcher for the Birmingham Thunderbolts 98; currently playing for Sorcerer 16U – Bill Schroll team that 3rd third at PGF Nationals 14U in 2013

What is your favorite bat? “My all time favorite bat is the 2005 Anderson RocketTech which hits 20 feet farther than any bat I have ever swung. I also like the 2013 Demarini CF6 and 2010 Easton Stealth.”
What is your favorite brand of cleats? Mizuno
What is the uniform brand you prefer? Victory Pants

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RECRUITING NEWS:

*** One of the most impressive players at last December’s So Cal National Skills Clinic was Eryn Sustayta, a 2015 shortstop who’s now with the So Cal A’s 18U Quarles team and has committed to Utah Valley in Orem, Utah.

One of the D1 college coaches who as there said of Eryn: “She swings lefty and makes good contact at the plate and has good versatility.

 

*** Speaking of the So Cal A’s 18U Quarles team, they have picked up two new players:
— P Maddy Neales (2014, Stony Brook)… previously played for Riptide Gold
— OF Erika Hansen (2014, Bradley)… previously played for Bownet Gold

 

 

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FUNNIEST THING SEEN ON THE FIELD:

*** Earlier this week we posted a story called “Funniest thing on a softball field” based on responses from players who shared things they had seen. 

We asked readers to send in some of their own experiences and like this one from Maryland-bound junior pitcher Ari Jarvis with the OC Batbusters-Briggs team:

“One of the funniest things I’ve seen,” she begins, “was is in a rivalry game where there was a routine ground ball to our first basement. She made the out at first base easily but the field umpire was watching the track meet going on behind our game so he called her safe because he didn’t know what was going on!”

 

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Players, parents and coaches:  want to know the best way to get us info on your favorite player?  Fill out our Recruit Form link and complete.  It comes directly to me (Brentt) and you very likely could see the info used somewhere on our site.

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If you’d like to submit information, forward to brentt@studentsports.com.  Also, follow us on twitter at @SS_Softball.