Throwing 1,000 pitches every week is paying big dividends for
Anderson (Calif.) junior
Cheridan Hawkins.
The 5-10 ½-inch standout won three games Saturday of last week, striking out a staggering total of 53 batters.
She blanked Fortuna (Calif.), 4-0, while scattering two hits and striking out a career-high 19 batters. She also went 3-for-3 at the plate. Then she shut out McKinleyville (Calif.), 5-0, again striking out 19 and allowing only two hits.
In the final game, she fanned 15 while posting a one-hit, 14-0 victory over Eureka (Calif.).
"I didn't really expect this to happen," Hawkins said of her outstanding junior year.
Cheridan Hawkins went on a strikeout binge over last weekend.
Photo by Ed Fisher
She has, however, been pitching since she was 8 years old. A superb riseball is her strikeout pitch, but she also throws an off-speed drop curve and a 64-mph, four-seam fastball that sinks. Coached by her father, Charlie Hawkins, Cheridan has compiled a 16-3 record with a 0.96 ERA. In 109 innings, she has struck out 277, walked only 24 and scattered 31 hits.
She's no slouch at the plate, either. She is hitting .527 in 55 at-bats, with five doubles, four triples and one home run. She has driven in 14 runs.
The college interest is growing and she said her current favorites are Oregon and San Diego State.
*
Analy (Sebastopol, Calif.) senior
Nicole Ochoa pitched a perfect game with 14 strikeouts while shutting out El Molino (Forestville, Calif.), 11-0.
* Freshman
Kristin Cullen fired a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts as
Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) shut out Nordhoff (Ojai, Calif.), 9-0.
* Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Md.) senior
Emily Weiman pitched a perfect game with 14 strikeouts during a 10-0 victory over Mercy (Baltimore).
* Senior
Lia Romeo hit three home runs to lead Lockport (Ill.) to a 15-4 rout of Andrew (Tinley Park, Ill.). That matched her entire total from last year.
* Trista Brownlee and
Sarah Appold each pitched five-inning no-hitters as Valley Lutheran (Saginaw, Mich.) defeated Nouvel Catholic Central (Saginaw, Mich.), 12-0 and 15-0.
* Though just a freshman,
Emily Griggs quickly is gaining a reputation as a clutch hitter. She tripled in the tying runs and scored the winning run in the seventh inning as
Maize (Kan.) defeated Bishop Carroll (Wichita, Kan.), 4-3. In the second game of a twinbill, she hit a two-run single in the final inning for a 5-4 victory.
*
Lauren Fischer struck out 15 as
Robbinsville (N.J.) shut out Steinert (Hamilton, N.J.), 4-0.
*
Lindsay Taylor pitched her second consecutive perfect game, striking out 18, as
Kings Park (N.Y.) blanked Huntington (N.Y.), 5-0. Earlier in the week she was perfect during a 12-0 victory over Harborfields (Greenlawn, N.Y.).
*
Conner (Hebron, Ky.) eighth grade sensation
Elizabeth Sims pitched a one-hitter to stifle St. Ursula Academy (Cincinnati), 2-0. She won 23 games as a seventh grader.
*
Escalon (Calif.) senior
Caitlin Brooks is making a surprising comeback from a serious foot injury she suffered during the basketball season. She was not expected to play softball, but she already has posted a 5-0 victory over Hilmar (Calif.) and lost a 3-1 heartbreaker in 13 innings to Modesto Christian (Calif.) even though she struck out 17 and yielded only one walk.
*
Ellet (Akron, Ohio) coach Chuck Shuman recorded his 500th career victory during an 11-1 rout of Kenmore (Akron, Ohio). He's now No. 3 on Ohio's all-time list.
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