All-county softball: Pearson's repertoire keeps ’em guessing

Edgewood hurler has big list of pitches to choose to keep hitters off balance.

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer Updated 8:46 AM Monday, June 22, 2009

TRENTON — When Edgewood High School sophomore pitcher Sara Pearson is on the mound, the fans in the stands, the hitter at the plate and even Cougars coach Wayne Asher all are thinking the same thing: What in the world is coming next?

Well aware of his pitcher’s talent and fully confident in her ability to best use it, Asher lets Pearson and catcher Kaysie Hall call their own game. And with a repertoire of nearly 10 pitches to chose from, they keep everyone guessing.

It’s a formula that helped the left-handed Pearson produce a 16-6 record with 278 strikeouts in 148 innings, earning her the JournalNews Butler County Pitcher of the Year award.

“I have somewhere around eight or nine pitches, but (Hall) knows which ones are working and we usually stick to three or four a game,” said Pearson, who throws a fastball, changeup, drop, curve, dropping curve, screwball, dropping screwball, rise and dropping change.

Pearson and Hall pay close attention to each batter the first time through the order, using the hitters’ tendencies against them the rest of the game. They don’t sit down and chart which pitches they take and which they chase, Pearson said. They just do it by memory.

“Sara’s 15 going on 20,” Asher said. “After being around a year as a freshman, you could tell she had matured a lot. Plus she’s played a lot of summer ball. You can just tell she’s been around the game for a long time.”

In addition to her prowess on the mound — one of her 16 victories came against eventual Division II state champion Ross — Pearson also was a factor at the plate, hitting .329 with five doubles and five home runs.

And both her pitching and hitting numbers only figure to improve with two years of high school remaining.

“My goal is to keep racking up the strikeouts and trying to limit the walks because that’s what kills everything,” Pearson said. “I just want to keep working hard and get better as a team.”

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