Pitcher of Year: McKenzie emerged as ace catalyst for Bombers’ run in states
Sophomore Alex McKenzie was planning on sharing the pitching load for Pine Plains this season.
“We had the three sophomores,” Bombers coach Les Funk said. “My plan was to go every other game or split games until whoever got hot at the end of the year and that’s who we’ll go with.”
It was McKenzie who got hot and Pine Plains rode her pitching to the state Class C softball title game.
“I thought we were going to split it more,” admitted McKenzie, the Freeman’s Pitcher of the Year.
“I didn’t know that I was going to be the main pitcher. I think I was a little nervous at the beginning, but then it just became an everyday thing and I got use to it and it was comfortable.”
McKenzie ended up throwing 121 innings. She posted a 14-4 re-
cord with 65 strikeouts and a 2.14 ERA.
“I definitely got more comfortable,” she said.
McKenzie worked out of two bases-loaded jams before the Bombers took charge of Sullivan West in the Section 9 championship.
She outdueled Greenville ace Ava Fitzmaurice in the state semifinals. McKenzie kept the ball low and let her defense do the rest. She struck out two, walked two and allowed just three singles. She pitched out of a first-and-third, two-out jam in the first inning and cruised from there.
McKenzie started out sharing the duties with Jo Schmidt and Haley Strang. Her emergence as the ace actually helped to solidify Pine Plains’ defense.
“You got Haley, Jo and Alex and every one of them was a great defensive player,” Funk said.
“Anyone who came in to
pitch, we’re going to lose something on our defense — especially with Haley, the amount of runners she’s thrown out from center field this year and Jo being a solid shortstop.
McKenzie was playing third base when not pitching.
“With Alex it just sort of worked out,” Funk said. “For her to step in and do as well as she did, especially at the end of the year. That only helped us as a team, but left Jo at short and Haley in center to help our defense.”
It also led to the emergence of eighth-grade, midseason call-up Kris Wilson to secure a starting role at third.
McKenzie’s transformation into the starting pitcher allowed all the pieces to fall into place for the state run.
Another plus was her hitting. She batted .569 with 22 RBI. Her teamleading 46 hits included five doubles, a triple and two homers.
“Last year I didn’t hit at all,” McKenzie said. “I
definitely thought I would hit more, but I wanted to make sure that I could to be there for my team. I practiced more than I did last year.”
McKenzie, who started playing softball in second grade, was called up to the varsity for the 2015 postseason. She pitched sparingly last year with Anna Lonczak as the ace. Her highlight was a five-inning two-hit shutout of Millbrook with 14 strikeouts.
“I always wanted to pitch, but everybody else was older and stronger,” she said of her younger days. “Now that I get the opportunity to, I’m very lucky. I pitched for a travel team three years ago and that’s when I started focusing on it more.”
“I definitely got a lot better,” said McKenzie, who takes private lessons with former Roosevelt coach Samantha Mantor. The best pitches are her fastball and changeup.
“There’s still things I need to work on, like my screwball and my changeup. When I was
younger, I learned how to throw a riser, but I never followed through with it, but I like to start pitching that again.”
She has a strong bond with catcher Cat Simmons, who is a year older. It was she that talked Simmons into playing softball.
“I can tell any of my pitchers anything and they would listen, because they trust me,” Simmons said. “In the (state) semifinal game, I told her to trust me, because I had played against half of them.”
“She’s definitely my pickme-up person,” McKenzie admitted. “If I was doing bad in a game, she would always call timeout and tell me to suck it up and if I didn’t suck it up, she would definitely tell the coach that I had to suck it up.”
McKenzie is looking forward to the next two years with the focus on a return to the state tournament.
“If I had the opportunity, I think it’d be great, but to play in college isn’t my main goal,” she revealed. “I just rather have a great high school career.”