Boone Grove coach Ron Saunders described sophomore pitcher Natalee Meinert as “unique.”
“There’s no doubt about it,” he said.
As Meinert collected her gear from the dugout, the two exchanged some good-natured barbs.
“She’s one of the few kids who can come in here and tease the daylights out of me and just have some fun, and then when it’s time to go out there, she just shuts that down and gets all business,” Saunders said.
“Not a lot of kids can do that. Most kids don’t know how to flip that switch. And she has a switch that she flips, and it’s unbelievable.”
Meinert’s switch has been in the “on” position on the field since she joined the Wolves.
She was 7-3 with a 0.80 ERA after Boone Grove’s 8-0 win against visiting Hebron in the first round of the Porter County Conference Tournament on Thursday.
She had 112 strikeouts and 13 walks in 61 ? innings and hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any game for the Wolves (9-3), who are ranked No. 6 in the Class 2A coaches poll.
“It’s all about practicing hard,” Meinert said. “I’m always pushing myself. I’m a workhorse. If there are times when I’m doubting myself, I just go home and work. I’m always working because this is what I want to do. I love doing this, playing this game.”
Some of those doubts crept into Meinert’s mind in her debut last season. But she still went 10-3 with a 0.94 ERA, 122 strikeouts and just 11 walks in 82 innings.
“It was extremely nerve-wracking,” Meinert said. “My freshman year, thank God for the seniors, the juniors last year. That was the majority of the team, and they took me under their wing.
“They always cheer me on — everyone in the dugout, the outfield, the infield, my catcher. It’s just a positive environment, and that helps so much. It’s just knowing my teammates have my back and I have theirs.”
Behind Meinert, Boone Grove topped No. 2 Hebron (17-2) for the second time in as many games, the Hawks’ only two losses this season.
In the first meeting, she tossed a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and two walks as Boone Grove won 4-0 on April 22.
She was even more dominant this time, throwing a two-hitter with 16 strikeouts and no walks. She struck out the first 12 batters she faced before Hebron’s Meadow Fornuto doubled to lead off the fifth.
Meinert hasn’t surrendered an earned run, and just one run overall, in her past four appearances covering 21 innings.
“The past few games, I’ve felt good,” Meinert said. “All my mechanics felt smooth. I’m confident while I’m pitching. I’m not questioning myself. And if something isn’t working while I’m practicing, I’m like, ‘OK, it’s going to work in the game.’ It’s just a matter of staying confident for me.”
Meinert received significant support against the Hawks. Emily Veschak crushed a two-run homer to left in the fourth to give the Wolves a 3-0 lead. They tacked on five runs in the fifth, highlighted by Marianna Broton’s two-run double.
Veschak went 2-for-2 with two walks, Broton had a pair of doubles, and Mercedes Szakacs’ two hits included a double.
“She just gets so pumped playing conference teams, Hebron being a rival, and everything she was throwing was working,” Saunders said of Meinert. “When we started hitting, it pumped her up even more.”
Indeed, Meinert enjoyed the Wolves’ all-around performance.
“We came out for this game as a team,” she said. “We’ve been working up to be this team, and (Thursday) we were that team. I knew I had good defense behind me. I’m confident in my pitches. I knew we could do this.”
Saunders led Boone Grove to back-to-back Class 2A state runner-up finishes in 2015 and 2016. The Wolves’ run of five consecutive sectional titles ended last season with a 2-1 loss in a semifinal to Pioneer, giving the eventual state champion Panthers “everything they could handle,” Saunders said.
Boone Grove, in a sectional that includes top-ranked Pioneer as well as Hebron, returned virtually intact from last season, with the addition of a strong freshman class.
“This is the team I expected from day one, and we’re finally here,” Saunders said. “It’s a week to 10 days before sectionals. It’s time they showed up. I don’t care if you go .500 during the season. If you’re ready for sectionals, that’s what counts.
“Winning the conference is great, winning the tournament is great. But you don’t want to lose in sectionals and go home, and this is a team that can do a lot of damage from here on out.”
Meinert sees what Saunders sees.
“I’m excited because we could go pretty far,” she said. “As long as we can stay this team, we’ll go far. The past few games, it was a matter of trying to put the pieces together. Now I just think the pieces are definitely together.”