Given Warren junior Norah Howell’s height, one could guess she plays basketball or volleyball.
But the 6-foot-1 Howell is a softball player and only a softball player.
“My dad played softball for our church league, and we would always go to the park and watch him,” she said. “I wanted to do what my dad was doing at 7 years old.”
Howell has been doing it well for the Blue Devils.
“She has a tall frame, but it’s hard to pitch around her,” Warren coach Jenna Charbonneau said. “She doesn’t have a lot of holes in her swing. We tell her to play straight up and hit the ball hard.”
Howell hit the ball hard multiple times during the third-seeded Blue Devils’ thrilling 10-9 win over second-seeded host Glenbrook North in a Class 4A sectional semifinal on Wednesday.
Howell hit a two-run home run and a two-run single and drove in five runs overall for Warren (22-6), which will play top-seeded Mundelein (20-5), a North Suburban Conference rival, in the sectional championship game at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Glenbrook North center fielder Olivia Griffith prevented Howell from doing even more damage at the plate. Griffith tracked a ball off Howell’s bat to the fence and stuck her glove over it to rob Howell of a grand slam in the fourth inning.
But Howell, who was the designated player, moved on quickly.
“I have a goldfish memory,” she said. “That’s the whole point of softball. You have to quickly move to the next thing to help your team.”
Howell bounced back with a two-run single to right field to tie the game at 7-7 in the sixth inning. Senior outfielder Annalise Stitch followed with an RBI double, and freshman Lexi Beckman capped the five-run outburst with a pinch-hit two-run single to give Warren a 10-7 lead over the Spartans (24-6).
Howell’s hit opened the floodgates for the Blue Devils.
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“I just try to slam it as hard as I can,” she said. “I came to the game with confidence. I tried really hard to find my mojo before the game and tried to center myself.”
Charbonneau said Howell’s single actually was an example of good hitting.
“She reached for it, got that outside pitch and hit the ball down the line,” Charbonneau said. “She does a really good job of hitting wherever the ball is pitched in the strike zone.”
Howell, a two-year starter who bats cleanup and entered the game hitting .347 with four home runs, 19 RBIs and 16 runs scored, said she has “high-functioning autism.”
“It’s a night-and-day process,” she said. “Some days are really good. Some days are really bad. I used to not manage it well and get high-anxiety attacks and overstimulation. I had a lot of anxiety ticks.”
Howell said she was diagnosed when she was 10.
“I told my softball team, and everyone respected me at the same level,” she said. “I take that with pride. I love myself and love how I am.”
Warren junior second baseman Lauren Jaronik said she has seen that mindset in action during their long friendship.
“Norah works really hard and never gets down on herself,” Jaronik said.
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter.