National Highlight Reel: 15-year-old Paige Lowary dominates Iowa softball hitters

Paige Lowary just turned 15 in late June, but she's already dominating softball batters in Iowa.

Just last week the 5-foot-10 freshman pitched a perfect game and struck out 14 as Dallas Center-Grimes (Dallas Center, Iowa) blanked Harlan (Iowa), 5-0. She aided her own cause with a two-run homer.

Though it was her eighth no-hitter of the summer, even she was surprised by the perfect game.

"Considering I walk a lot of people, I never expected to throw a perfect game," she conceded. "I was just happy that I didn't walk anyone."



From June 13-20, she had pitched a remarkable five no-hitters.

"At the time it really didn't affect me," she said. "I usually strike out 10 or 11 people a game. The defense had to do the other half of the work. It was kind of a team effort and really helped my confidence."

Veteran coach Steve Schlafke, who recently won his 1,000th game, calls her "gifted as an athlete. She has good size and strength. She's very passionate about the game and kind of a perfectionist. A lot of teams we face, their goal for the season is just to see if they can get a hit off her."

Lowary's best pitch is a fastball that moves. She averages 64-65 mph and gets as high as 68. She also has a good curve which she starts on the outside of the plate before it breaks inside for many called third strikes.
The Mustangs' young star has been pitching since age 9, encouraged by her mother, Shelly, who pitched for North Polk (Alleman, Iowa).

"At first I wasn't very good," she admitted. "I wasn't very accurate. I just threw it anywhere. About seventh grade I started getting better."

As an eighth grader, she made the varsity as a starting right fielder, a position she never previously had played.
Because of her great arm and speed, Schlafke calls Lowary as good as any right fielder he's had in 35 years.



Even though the Mustangs had two older pitchers, Lowary eventually also worked her way into the starting rotation. She completed her eighth grade year with a 13-3 record and microscopic 0.26 earned run average. In 105 2/3 innings, she struck out 169, walked 32 and gave up 41 hits. She had seven shutouts. Batting third in the lineup, she also led the team in hitting (.385) and tied for the lead by driving in 26 runs.

This year is even better since she became the ace. She has a 30-4 record with a 0.81 ERA. In 217 1/3 innings, she has struck out 360 and walked 75. She also leads the Mustangs with a .477 batting average and has slammed eight home runs. The Mustangs (38-5) are batting .340 as a team and lead the state with 40 home runs.

Lowary not only is a great athlete, but also ranks No. 1 in her class with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Her big goal this week is to help her coach win his first Class 3A state title, beginning with Tuesday's state-finals opener against Keokuk. Victories on Thursday and Friday would then finish the job.

"That means everything," she emphasized. "It would be awesome to win it for him."

FOOTBALL: RECORD-BREAKER IN ALABAMA
A host of records were broken as the South rallied to edge the North, 37-33, during the annual Alabama All-Star football game in Montgomery.



North MVP Montel Hale, a receiver from North Jackson (Stevenson, Ala.), set records with four touchdowns and 24 points. South MVP Ryan Caldwell of Dadeville (Ala.), set records with five touchdown passes, 393 passing yards, 22 completions and 38 attempts. Caldwell fired two touchdown passes in a 29-second span during the last minute to pull out a spectacular victory.

* St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) offensive tackle Kyle Kalis (6-5, 305) has switched his commitment from Ohio State to the University of Michigan, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He is rated the No. 61 rising senior in the nation by CBS/MaxPreps recruiting analyst Tom Lemming. He also was recruited by the likes of Alabama and Notre Dame.

* The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that Jovan Robinson has committed to Auburn University. The 6-1, 216-pound running back had 2,196 yards and 36 touchdowns as a junior at Wooddale (Memphis, Tenn.) as a junior. During his sophomore year he had 1,675 yards and 26 touchdowns.

* DeSoto (Texas) defeated Lamar (Houston), 34-25, to win the Division I 7-on-7 state football championship. The champs, who won all eight matchups during the tourney, were led by Raheem Wilson, who threw a pair of touchdown passes to Ricky Daniels.

* Three defending state champions participated in the eight-team Red Grange Classic 7-on-7 tournament in Wheaton, Ill. Class 8A champ Maine South (Park Ridge, Ill.) won the title with a 20-19 victory over Class 5A champ Montini (Lombard, Ill.). Matt Alviti led the champs with three touchdown passes, two of them to dynamic Paul Preston, who stands just 5-4.

* Rising senior wide receiver Devonte Robinson has made a commitment to the University of West Virginia, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The 6-2, 175-pounder, who runs 40 yards in 4.4 seconds, had 28 catches for 635 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior at Village Academy (Delray Beach, Fla.). He did all of that in just six games after recovering from a broken hand.



* Red Lion Christian Academy (Bear, Del.) has been cleared by the state to legally recruit football and boys basketball players in its quest to become a national prep powerhouse – very unprecedented in Delaware. It will move from full membership to an associate only in those two sports.

* One of the nation's premier football coaches, Don Shows, is recovering from a recent heart attack. The 71-year-old Shows has coached West Monroe (La.) to an outstanding 321-73 record, including a 14-1 mark and Class 5A state-runner-up finish last fall.

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}BASKETBALL: JARNELL STOKES TO OAK HILL
NBA star Carmelo Anthony made a phone call to Central (Memphis, Tenn.) standout Jarnell Stokes and that sealed the deal for his transfer to national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. The 6-8, 250-pounder probably would have been Tennessee's No. 1 senior this year.

* The University of Arizona has received a commitment from rising senior guard Gabe York, according to the Los Angeles Times. The 6-2 guard averaged nearly 20 points last year for Orange Lutheran (Calif.) and has scored more than 40 points several times in summer competition.

* Cameron Forte, a 6-6 guard, led the Arizona Magic in scoring during six straight games en route to the championship in the Adidas Three Stripes Tournament in Anaheim, Calif. The recent McClintock (Tempe, Ariz.) graduate has not yet signed with a college, but he has been the catalyst during his team's current 26-game winning streak.

* The Garner Flames AAU girls basketball team has a pair of players who are somewhat under the college recruiting radar, but who have good Division I potential. The newcomer is 6-1 rising senior Rodreka Rogers of Myers Park (Charlotte, N.C.). She is the daughter of former NBA standout Rodney Rogers and moved from Phoenix, Ariz., last fall. The other player is rising junior J'kyra Brown, a powerful 5-11 guard who averaged 14.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.4 steals last year for Rocky Mount (Rocky Mount, N.C.). She did not play high school or AAU basketball during her freshman year due to knee surgery and is just starting to get national exposure this summer.



TRACK: VERZBICAS WINS JUNIOR TRIATHLON
Lukas Verzbicas, soon headed to the University of Oregon, journeyed to Edmonton, Canada, to win the Triathlon Junior Pan American Championship in 55 minutes, 24 seconds. It was a nice tuneup for his participation in the World Junior Triathlon Championship during September in Beijing, China.

* One of the nation's premier freshman shot putters, Nia Britt, will enroll at Alemany (Mission Hills, Calif.), according to Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times. She also plays basketball.

* Keep an eye on 4-year-old Chelsi Williams of Lakeland, Fla. She recently set a national record for 5-year-olds when she long jumped 6 feet, 9 inches to win the gold medal at the AAU Primary National Track & Field Championships in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. She obliterated the previous record of 4 feet, 7 inches.

BASEBALL: HOFMAN BELTS 3 HOME RUNS
Rising senior first baseman Pete Hofman slammed three home runs – two with the bases loaded – and drove in nine runs as St. Francis (La Canada, Calif.) routed Alemany (Mission Hills, Calif.), 15-7, in a summer baseball game.

* Wolfe County (Campton, Ky.) baseball fans are eagerly looking forward to two more years of power-hitting Dylan Creech, who slammed home runs in six consecutive at-bats as a sophomore to tie a national record. He finished the year with a .593 batting average, 51 runs, 49 walks, 35 stolen bases, nine home runs and he drove in 54. During one stretch he walked 10 times in a row and during a twinbill he was hit by pitches four times, according to assistant coach Johnny Rose.

* The East Cobb Braves defeated Florida Travel Ball, 8-3, to win the World Wood Bat Association 17-Under national championship in Marietta, Ga. The big blow was a grand-slam home run by rising senior Casey Moody.
MVP honors went to Kyle Carter, who pitched the title-game victory and also batted .421 with two home runs, 11 runs and 11 RBIs. Matt Crownover was named most valuable pitcher after winning two games. In 11 innings he struck out 18, yielded just one run and six hits.



* Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times reports that Cathedral (Los Angeles) is building a baseball powerhouse. The Phantoms will return three players who started as freshmen and have several outstanding incoming freshmen, including infielder Willie Aguilar.

POTPOURRI
* Bree Rapoza, representing Hawaii, was named Most Outstanding Wrestler during the first-ever Cadet Girls Freestyle Division Nationals in Fargo, N.D. She won all five of her matches by either pin or technical fall at 115 pounds. Hawaii won the team title, with California placing second.

* The first annual High School Sullivan Awards have been presented to recent graduates Sarah Biddle of Servant Christian Academy (Morgantown, Ind.) and Dan Giovacchini of Lawrence Academy (Groton, Mass.). Biddle holds more than 80 world, national and state powerlifting records in nine weight classes. Giovacchini earned 12 varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball while serving as captain in all three sports. He also had a 4.0 GPA.

* One of the nation's premier soccer players, Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.) rising junior Nathan Smith, has made a commitment to UCLA, according to the Los Angeles Times.