From the time she was 8, Jacey Bertalan had no doubt catcher was her position.
Her mother, Michele, was coaching town ball and asked her to play behind the plate.
“I put on the gear and knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my career,” Jacey said. “It was crazy.”
The Highland junior attended catching camps. She would go home and use the wall in her room to work on drills deep into the night.
But it wasn’t until this season Bertalan became the Trojans’ catcher.
After opening her freshman season on the bench, she quickly took over at shortstop. Last season, she started in center field.
“I came into this season saying I was going to catch, it’s what I really wanted,” Bertalan said. “I pushed myself harder.”
Still, she embraced any role Highland coach Sarah Funston designated.
“It’s really cool because she’s willing to go wherever I need her,” Funston said. “And she’s good enough to do that.”
With limited expectations and pressure as a freshman, Bertalan hit .408 with 12 RBIs.
She slipped to .291 with three homers and 15 RBIs last season. She acknowledged that she took her previous production somewhat for granted, then pressed when she struggled.
Bertalan refocused and rededicated this season. She’s hitting .427 with five homers, 26 RBIs and 25 runs — all team highs.
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“I had the mentality I needed to hit well and I was going to do that for my team,” Bertalan said.
That approach didn’t surprise Funston.
“She’s a great kid and she works really hard,” Funston said. “She’s constantly trying to be a better hitter and a better player.
“She loves the game and she’s super-intense about it. It’s good for the other girls to see that.”
Bertalan, who plans to sign in the fall with West Virginia Tech and study civil engineering, has been a key part of the Trojans’ dramatic improvement.
They went 17-8 in the regular season, including 8-4 in the Northwest Crossroads Conference to finish second. They went 10-20 last season, finishing last in the league at 2-10.
Highland opens the Griffith Sectional against Clark at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, hoping to add to its only championship that came in 1987. Last season, their first in Class 3A, the Trojans lost 1-0 in nine innings in a semifinal to Griffith, which rolled to its fifth straight title.
The Trojans head into the postseason having defeated Hanover Central 8-6 on Tuesday, Lake Central 4-2 on Wednesday and Portage 10-9 on Thursday.
Bertalan had a walk-off single against Portage to cap the Trojans’ turnaround regular season.
“We’re really prepared for sectionals,” Bertalan said. “I just hope we can pull out a few more big wins.”
Spinning forward: Coach Amanda Suarez wasn’t overly concerned Hanover Central had back-to-back losses last week after previously suffering only one loss all season, against Crown Point.
After beating Whiting 15-0 on Monday’s senior night, the Wildcats lost 8-6 to Highland on Tuesday and 9-5 to Chesterton on Wednesday. Both are quality teams.
“We were very flat,” Suarez said. “I don’t want to say we were due, because nobody wants it to happen. But I’d rather have it this week than next week.”
Hanover starts sectionals Monday against Andrean. The 59ers downed the Wildcats 12-3 in a sectional opener last season after Hanover had won three straight regional titles.
Topsy-turvy outcomes: The regular season’s final week produced especially unpredictable results as several of the Region’s best teams played nonconference games.
The area’s top four teams all lost Wednesday, include top-ranked Crown Point. The Bulldogs fell 1-0 to Lowell for their first loss to an in-state opponent. NCC champion Munster dropped a 6-5 nine-inning decision to Porter County Conference champion Boone Grove.
Other notable results included Chesterton edging Kankakee Valley 8-7 and Portage beating Bishop Noll 10-0 on Monday. Munster blanked Noll 4-0 and Hebron topped Lowell 9-7 on Tuesday. Chesterton defeated Lowell 6-4 and Andrean outlasted Noll 4-1 in 13 innings Thursday.
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff
TOP 10
Last week’s rankings in parentheses.
1. Crown Point 24-2 (1)
2. Hanover Central 23-3 (2)
3. Munster 19-6 (3)
4. Lake Central 21-7 (4)
5. Chesterton 21-6 (5)
6. Highland 17-8 (6)
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7. Kankakee Valley 17-8 (7)
8. Boone Grove 19-3 (8)
9. Andrean 17-8 (10)
10. Bishop Noll 15-9 (9)
Player of the Week: Danielle Roeske pitched 15 innings in one day as Hebron won the Porter County Conference Tournament. The Hawks upset Boone Grove 4-2 in a semifinal before edging Morgan Township 2-1 in eight innings in the final.