It’s an image that will forever be etched in the memory bank for St. Charles East pitcher Grace Hautzinger, and one that always brings a smile to her face.
The senior ace for the Saints, Hautzinger has thrown a ton of pitches over the years — many in the family’s backyard — to her father John, a former baseball and basketball player at Carthage.
It’s a fairly common deal. Softball dads perched on an improvised stool made of a five-gallon plastic ball bucket flipped upside down and placed behind a temporary home plate.
The stool John Hautzinger uses to this day, however, is a bit different.
“He’s always had this green little bucket about half the size of those ball buckets,” Grace said with a chuckle. “The thing is, he’s 6-foot-5. He dwarfs the bucket.
“I remember seeing it the first time, I had to have been 8, and I was just dying laughing.”
Dad makes it work.
“He catches me at all my pitching lessons for the past eight or nine years,” Grace said of near weekly sessions with Jonathan Hon in Homer Glen.
“He started with a regular infield glove, but about the time I was 11, he went to Play it Again Sports and bought a used catcher’s glove that he still uses. It looks ready to fall apart at any moment.”
That little green bucket has served witness to the development of a very good pitcher.
Hautzinger, who has committed to NCAA Division II Rollins in Winter Park, Florida, is in her fourth season on the varsity for St. Charles East.
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As a freshman, she was behind senior Katie Arrambide (Harvard) and junior Izzy Howe (Winona State). Hautzinger split time, also pitching for the JV.
“Her first start on varsity was in the Marengo Tournament when we had her go against Harlem, which was ranked,” St. Charles East coach Jarod Gutesha said.
Encouraged by Arrambide and Howe, a nervous Hautzinger threw a four-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk in a 2-1 win.
“They were pretty confident in me, and that was my first big moment,” Hautzinger said. “It just felt like maybe I belonged.”
Last season, Hautzinger led the Saints with a 10-6 record and 2.46 ERA. She struck out 193 while walking 16 in 121 innings.
“What makes Grace the pitcher she is — her command and control,” Gutesha said. “She may not be the hardest thrower around, but she’s gotten faster every year and is in the upper-50s.
“She can throw a riseball, and has the ability to go up and down, in and out with a curve, and a nice change-up as well.”
Most of the time, Hautzinger is throwing to senior catcher Samantha Gaca, who also came up to varsity as a freshman and immediately made herself at home with a home run in her first at-bat.
While they play in different travel programs, “we have been together since elementary school,” Hautzinger said. “We were in the same kindergarten class and became really good friends in high school.”
Gaca, a Division II Maryville recruit who hit .388 last season and caught nine runners stealing, trains individually with area catching guru and former Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler.
“She’s gotten so much better, her spins are insane and she’s picked up speed, too,” Gaca said of Hautzinger. “The chances of her missing a pitch high or low are pretty slim. She’s so consistent.
“The riseball is insane. I would say it’s probably her best pitch.”
Her rise gave Oswego hitters fits in a 2-0 win for the Saints in the season opener.
“I learned it at 12 but didn’t develop the consistency until sophomore year,” Hautzinger said. “It’s always a go-to strikeout pitch — that or the curve. I know I can throw both for strikes.”
Now, if Hautzinger can just get back in the circle, she can show it again. Postponements have limited St. Charles East to just two games.
“Sam and I were talking about it,” Hautzinger said. “Maybe it’s kinda karma since we started the season so early on March 11.”
She hopes they will be back playing soon.
With a solid core of five seniors and other strong players, the Saints “could be pretty special,” Hautzinger said.