SUDDEN IMPACT
Lincoln-Way Central ace Bella Dimitrijevic and her unique delivery dominate Providence
Lincoln-Way Central sophomore Bella Dimitrijevic has a pitching style that gets your attention.
For one thing, she launches basically from a standstill.
For another, she doesn’t start by looking at catcher Lucy Cameron. There is no staredown with the batter.
Just a stare down.
“She stares at the ground,” Cameron said. “It’s like she’s looking for a bug or something down there. Then she looks up, I give her the signs, and we go.
“It’s definitely unique. For the batters, it’s something new they see when they come to play against us.”
Dimitrijevic, a power-throwing right-hander, left every Providence batter she faced staring at the ground Tuesday as the host Knights rolled to a 13-7 victory in New Lenox.
Alexa Michon led Lincoln-Way Central (1-0) with three hits. Josephine Jager added two hits, while Jalese Hays hit a grand slam.
Abby Johnson had three hits, including two doubles, for Providence (0-1). Grace Golebiowski contributed two hits.
Dimitrijevic pitched the first two innings for Lincoln-Way Central. After throwing three straight balls to start the game, she roared back to strike out all six batters she faced.
Four of those strikeouts came on called-third strikes. On this day, neither the bugs nor the batters had a chance.
“My pitching coach taught me how to pitch that way,” a laughing Dimitrijevic said of her style. “I mean, it could throw them off a little bit. They don’t really know when I’m going to start because I’m not even looking at them.
“I can see how it can be confusing to batters and runners trying to lead off.”
Her opening day was even more special Tuesday when she hit a two-run double to right field in the bottom of the first inning. Off the bat, it looked like it had potential.
“No, I knew I missed it,” Dimitrijevic said. “I don’t hit in travel ball; I only hit for high school. So before the high school season I get a few hitting lessons in.
“I think hitting is super fun. I just like to go out there and have fun with it.”
Last season Lincoln-Way Central coach Jeff Tarala brought Dimitrijevic up to the varsity as
a freshman as the No. 2 pitcher behind Virginia Tech recruit Lyndsey Greiner.
Dimitrijevic (6-1) finished with a 1.01 ERA and 138 strikeouts in just 68 ⅔ innings.
What a coaching luxury. “We obviously knew the quality that Bella was,” Tarala said. “We’d had her in camps coming up. She would come in and always be impressive.
“The thing was, we were quite loyal to Lyndsey. I think that’s understandable.
Bella is probably on that track. She has high expectations for herself. She’s a competitor.”
She also knew her time would come.
“Last season wasn’t really frustrating,” Dimitrijevic said. “Lyndsey was a great pitcher, and she’s doing really well now at Virginia Tech. I kind of expected not pitching a lot last season. I wasn’t hurt about it. I really picked up a lot from her.
“Lyndsey was a great person to me, and she cared for me a lot when I was a freshman on varsity. I took all of that in. And now, as I’m getting older, I’ve learned to be more caring with the freshmen, take them in and help them.”
She’s already helping to produce future aces as a coach. Dimitrijevic gives pitching lessons.
“One girl is my little second cousin and two I know through friends,” Dimitrijevic said. “Pitching is something I enjoy doing and I want others to enjoy it just like I do. It really makes me happy.”
As does being a No. 1 pitcher.
“I really want to carry and lead this team and take this team somewhere,” Dimitrijevic said. “I think we could be really good.”