Alexis Mokos is a cerebral player.
She’s always been able to think the game.
Hanover Central’s three-year starting catcher has learned not to overthink and to allow her skills to shine. She’s progressed from an initially jittery freshman to a confident junior.
Mokos has been more willing to take chances to pick off baserunners. And a more relaxed approach at the plate has helped her hit .481 with just four strikeouts.
“I’ve been clearing my mind a little bit more,” said Mokos, who has hit in the middle of Hanover’s lineup each season, including cleanup this year. “Just think about getting the ball in play. See where the runners are and where the ball should go to get the runners in. Just put the bat on the ball.”
As a freshman, Mokos caught star pitcher Ashley Yoways, a senior who went on to Iowa. She was eager to impress the upperclassmen and to uphold the Wildcats’ tradition behind the plate.
“It was very nerve-racking,” Mokos said. “I felt a lot of pressure. I had to show what I had, why I was supposed to be there and why I should be playing.
“My mental state, I was uneasy and wasn’t sure what to do. I was thinking way too much. If I struck out, I was hard on myself. I’m still hard on myself, but I realize I can’t think back, I have to move forward. It’s the next play, the next at-bat, don’t carry it with me.”
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Hanover coach Amanda Suarez, a former star pitcher for the Wildcats who then was in her first season as an assistant, recognized Mokos’ ability from the start. It didn’t take long for Mokos to earn the trust and respect of teammates and coaches.
After intensive tutelage, by early in her first season, Mokos was calling her own pitches.
“She calls every game now. I don’t think a lot of people realize that,” said Suarez, an Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Hall of Famer. “They assume I call the game because I was a pitcher. But she calls a great game. She puts a lot of thought into it, and understands what to do in different situations.”
The last two seasons, Mokos has developed a strong bond with classmate Marley Hanlon, a left-hander who has emerged as a standout.
“She’s a great catcher,” Hanlon said. “I’m really glad she has my back. She’s really good at calling pitches, and she’s always there to pick me up if I’m missing my spots. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
Suarez described Mokos as “the brains behind the operation.”
“She has the arm, the range, she does the work calling pitches, not to mention her batting,” Suarez said. “Her effort, her attitude, her work ethic, she’s always ready to practice and play, she’s coachable. You want nine of her on your team. She’s the total package.”
On the mend: Whiting enters its final two games of the regular season Saturday without three starters, though the Oilers anticipate they’ll be back for the postseason.
Pitcher Courtney Blackwell aggravated a chronic left knee condition Tuesday against Clark. Catcher Callie Mansfield rolled her ankle in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader against Marquette. And shortstop Heaven Reyes injured her glove hand during pregame warmups Wednesday against Hanover Central, a last-minute scratch after she was in the lineup leading off.
“The injury bug bit us the last couple of days and that definitely doesn’t help,” Whiting coach Kelly Morando said. “But hopefully we can get healthy for sectionals.”
Stretch run: When Boone Grove won its third straight Porter County Conference Tournament title, adding to its third straight regular-season title, it was a time for both reflection and looking ahead.
The Wolves were the Class 2A state runner-up last season without a senior. Although they have a talented group of juniors, and productive and promising underclassmen, they now have three seniors.
“It’s been a great experience,” junior right fielder Taylor Howell said. “It’s a bunch of great girls and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”
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TOP 10
With records through Wednesday and last week’s rankings in parentheses
1. Crown Point 22-1 (1)
2. Boone Grove 17-2 (2)
3. Lake Central 21-6 (5)
4. Hanover Central 24-4 (7)
5. Kankakee Valley 23-4 (3)
6. LaPorte 19-7 (6)
7. Chesterton 14-7 (4)
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8. Andrean 16-5 (8)
9. Munster 16-8 (10)
10. Hobart 16-9 (NR)
Player of the week: Sophomore Katie Ross went 2-for-4 and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning Monday as Portage edged Bishop Noll 3-2.