Crawford totes load in circle for Lady Bucks
Smackover graduated not one but two pitching aces from last year’s regional championship squad. When Coach Dennis Steele pondered how he would replace seniors Mallory Brewer and Ashley Haynes, he didn’t have to look very far.
Abby Crawford, last year’s starting first baseman, has stepped into the pitching circle this season for the Lady Bucks, who have gotten off to a 9-5 start against an increased level of competition.
The junior has posted an 8-4 record with a 2.32 earned run average. She has 63 strikeouts and 25 walks in 69.33 innings pitched.
“I’ve done O.K. I have a lot that I need to improve,” said Crawford. “I’m happy with being able to last, with being able to pitch longer. But, I need to improve on more strikes and letting them hit the ball so my defense can make the plays.”
From Steele’s perspective, having one good pitcher is just as good as having two. Most teams have that one ace that shoulders the pitching load game after game anyway.
“Last year was pretty unique having two strong pitchers,” said Steele, who alternated Brewer and Haynes last season. “They know Abby is going to throw 99 percent of the games.
“As the year goes, she’s going to get stronger and stronger. She lifted hard. We had a good off-season weight program. She lifted hard at that. I think she’s going to be O.K.”
Crawford said she’s known the day would come where she would be the team’s primary pitcher since she was a freshman. Now that the day has arrived, she admitted it’s a bit different.
“There’s more pressure,” she said. “Whenever I’m pitching, I’m more
stressed out because without my pitching, I feel like our team is not going to do as well.
“I know as long as I’m doing good, our team is going to be perfectly fine.”
The added pressure may or may not have affected Crawford’s offense. After batting .452 with four homers last season while playing first base, she’s off to a .348 start with two homers in 46 at bats.
“I haven’t hit as well this season as I did last season. But, I just got out of a hitting slump. I think I’ll be fine,” said Crawford, who was asked if being the primary pitcher has impacted her batting.
“A little,” she answered, “but not tremendously.”
Smackover has built its reputation around being a bit-hitting team. Still, it will only go as far as its pitching. Steele likes the Lady Bucks’ pitching and defense.
“She’s very consistent,” said Steele. “She’s doing a great job pitching because she didn’t pitch a whole lot last year. She’s really consistent. That’s what I like about her the best. She has good control. She’s got an excellent changeup, which, to me, is the key ingredient to being a good pitcher. You’ve got to be able to throw off-speed and she does that, along with a couple other pitches. I’ve really been happy with her performances so far.”
Along with the changeup, Crawford said her favorite pitch is probably her curveball. The challenge is knowing when to throw each pitch. Smackover assistant coach Stefanie Magee calls the pitches from the dugout.
“Every once in awhile we butt heads,” Crawford chuckled. “But, other than that, we get along. It goes both ways.” For example?
“I was behind in a count and she called a changeup. I shook it off and she kept calling it over and over again. So, I had to throw it,” said Crawford.
So, what happened?
“This girl hit it out of the park.” Crawford giggled again but added with a shrug, “It happens.”
Her easy-going nature serves her well in the pitching circle. Her work ethic hasn’t gone unnoticed either.
“She’s looking amazing,” said sophomore catcher Karli Goocher. “She’s putting in a whole bunch of work, like, on her own time, too. When we’re not practicing, she comes in on her off days. That’s pretty awesome to me because she is our starting pitcher and that means she wants to be in that position. That means she’s trying her best to be in that position. I think she’s doing a great job.”
Crawford hopes the work will lead to a stronger finish to the season. Smackover lost in the second round of 3A state last year and struggled a bit down the stretch.
“This year we worked together more as a team than we did last year. I think that’s going to build us up and get us prepared to play the harder games toward the end of the year,” Crawford said.
“I feel like we’re as strong as we were last year. Where we lost people, I feel like we gained more people that can fill their spot. I think we can go just as far if not farther than we did last year.”