For 45 minutes at a practice last week, Fenwick softball coach Mike Marrese threw outside pitches to one Friar after another with a runner on third base.
Each batter had a specific objective.
“They had to hit the ball either up the middle or to the right side of the field to score the runner,” Marrese said. “It’s the type of thing I believe it’s important to focus on.
“A lot of the kids have hitting coaches, so I don’t try to mess with their mechanics. I preach instead about situations and their approach. And we’re a much better team this year in understanding situations and going up to the plate with an approach and a purpose.”
After going 10-27 last season, the Friars improved to 13-8 with an 8-3 win over Resurrection on Thursday, April 28. As Marrese preaches the value of situational hitting and patience at the plate, the Friars are taking more walks and striking out less than they did last year.
“We’re definitely more selective at the plate, and we’re hitting well up and down the lineup,” junior Grace Tucek said. “We’re also scoring more runs, and that obviously gives us more leeway on defense.”
Tucek is Fenwick’s cleanup hitter and one of three solid starting pitchers on the team. She follows junior Giselle Diaz in the order, who is in her third varsity season as the team’s starting shortstop.
Where hitting is concerned, “Giselle definitely gets it,” Marrese said.
With an improved approach, the Friars are becoming more assured at the plate and are off one another’s attitudes.
“We have a lot more chemistry this year,” Diaz said. “Even if we’re down 5-0, everyone on the bench is cheering and as a batter, hearing that from your teammates gives you so much confidence.”
Fenwick hasn’t trailed 5-0 often this season. The Friars are 5-6 in Girls Catholic Athletic Conference competition and of their six losses, three were one-run games and a fourth was a two-run loss.
Their only lopsided losses came to highly-touted Oak Park-River Forest and Providence, the latter of which Marrese called “the best team in the GCAC.”
Another focal point this year has been Fenwick’s approach to riseballs, which look like fastballs but elevate slightly as they reach the plate.
“It’s just a hard pitch to hit and the more (coaching) clinics I go to, the more I hear that the best way to defend against it is not to swing at it,” Marrese said. “You have to force the pitcher to come down in the zone.”
Hitters attack the pitch in different ways. While Diaz likes to move up in the batter’s box and take a cut at the pitch before it rises, Tucek stands back in the box and bides her time.
“I’m a pitcher myself and I have a pretty easy time picking up spins of the ball and things the opposing pitchers are doing, so I usually sit back and lay off the riseball,” Tucek said. “With two strikes I’ll move up in the box so I can hit it, and we do encourage girls to move up in the box to take that pitch away.”
Patience, situational hitting and defusing the riseball have all helped this year’s Friars take a leap forward offensively.
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“We knew we were coming back with talent, and we worked in the offseason on all of those little things,” Diaz said. “And it has definitely paid off.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press