Freshman lives up to preseason billing
Hickory’s Gabrielse shines on mound, at the plate while handling adversity
Coaches are always interested in how their players react to adversity, particularly the young ones. Hickory coach Shane Smith learned that freshman Tegan Gabrielse can handle the occasional setback just fine.
Touted as the “next big thing” in area high school softball coming into the season, Gabrielse has lived up to the billing. Competing in the area’s toughest district, she is 15-4-1 pitching and has hit .429 with four home runs and 17 RBIs.
But after helping the Hawks build a 6-1 lead with two outs in the sixth inning of the Class 5 Region A championship game last week, she hit a wall. Gabrielse gave up four runs, hitting three batters with pitches and walking another as the Chiefs rallied and eventually won 7-6 in eight innings.
Her response? Gabrielse pitched a four-hitter, striking out eight while hitting a two-run homer among her three hits as the Hawks dethroned defending state champion Nansemond River 5-1 on Tuesday in the Class 5 quarterfinals.
That effort, and those of her teammates, launched the Hawks (17-5-1) into today’s state semifinals. They play Woodgrove (25-2) at 1 p.m. at Riverside High in Loudoun County.
“I learned she had a lot of mental toughness,” Smith said. “A lot of kids would carry that bad inning with them, but she came back and hit the ball hard her next at-bat.
“Then she came back and pitched a gem against the defending state champions and had three hits. She and her teammates showed a lot of gumption.”
“It was pretty easy to bounce back [from the Kempsville loss] because I knew I was tired, but I had given it my all,” Gabrielse said.
Smith believes the Hawks’ challenging schedule has also “battletested” Gabrielse to understand that ups and downs come with the territory. In addition to the brutal Southeastern District schedule — which includes four other schools ranked in the 757Teamz Top 15 — the Hawks played fellow state semifinalist Granby as well as VISAA state finalists Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and Isle of Wight.
“I have loved this high school season,” Gabrielse said. “I’ve learned that I have to relax a little more, especially in the pitching circle, throw strikes and do what I can do to help the team.”
Gabrielse displayed more than just speed in the pitching circle against Nansemond River, throwing 10 changeups for strikes. More importantly, Smith said, she got
“To know we’re going to play Friday, and potentially Saturday [ for the state title] felt amazing because we all fought for each other as a team and gave it our all.”
— Tegan Gabrielse, freshman softball standout for Hickory on her team’s performance
crucial strikeouts with Nansemond River players in scoring position on multiple occasions.
“She’s done a great job handling expectations,” he said. “We have a list of great pitchers here the past 20 years and we hold our pitchers to a higher standard.
“She’s one of the few to come in and earn the job as a freshman. She’s so competitive, she gets upset when she loses a drill in practice, so when the game is on the line, she has the bulldog in her.
“No freshman, here, has ever had as big a game in both the circle and at the plate as she did against Nansemond River.”
Smith said her hitting prowess comes from dedication to lifting weights and relentless practice in the batting cage in her backyard. Her home run off of Warriors ace Cierra Gawryluk cleared the fence in deep center field, increasing the Hawks’ lead to 4-0 and answering any doubts about whether she’d rebound from the disappointment against Kempsville.
“I was even more excited than my first high school home run, which I hit at Nansemond River [in a 9-2 win in April] because this one made us state [semifinal]-bound,” Gabrielse said. “To know we’re going to play Friday, and potentially Saturday [for the state title] felt amazing because we all fought for each other as a team and gave it our all.”