Junior infielder Cheyenne Coyle follows through on a swing on Feb. 9. Coyle started off the season with three homers in two games. (Photo by Abhiram Chandrash)Another look at ASU’s 3-0 start to the Kajikawa Classic:
Escobedo adds pitches to repertoire
Junior pitcher Dallas Escobedo was known for throwing one pitch extremely well in her first two ASU seasons, the rise ball.
Escobedo realized that if hitters only saw one pitch, they could telegraph what was coming. Escobedo added the drop ball in the offseason and improved her changeup to keep hitters off-balance.
“I needed something a little different," Escobedo said. “I felt like I was a little predictable these past two years. I needed something for myself to change. It took a lot of hard work and dedication to really come with the new pitch and bring it out so early. It takes usually about a year to me to learn a new pitch and be confident enough to throw it in games.”
So far the results are staggering. In two complete games (12 innings), Escobedo has allowed three hits, zero walks, zero run, and she has struck out 25 batters.
Granted, the sample size is small and the competition has been less than stellar, but it’s exactly the start needed to build Escobedo’s confidence in throwing the new pitches.
“You saw the pitches she was throwing,” coach Clint Myers said. “Those pitches she was not able to do last year. She worked really hard. She did not want to be a one-dimensional pitcher. She made that ball today (Thursday) go all four directions and then she threw three out of five changeups for strikes. Again, all of it goes to Dallas and (assistant coach) Chuck (D'Arcy), because they worked extremely hard to make her the pitcher that she wants to be.”
Wigness’s Little League HR
In Little League Baseball, errors are made all the time. Therefore, inside-the-park home runs can happen on a bad defensive play.
Redshirt freshman pitcher Jenna Makis leads the ASU softball team in a high line after the team won both games of a double-header on Feb. 9. (Photo by Abhiram Chandrash)Junior outfielder Bailey Wigness hit a “Little League home run” in an 8-0 win over Indiana.
Wigness laid down an ordinary bunt. Then Indiana catcher Kelsey Dotson appeared to have fielded the ball cleanly.
However, time was of the essence. After realizing Wigness was almost to first base, Dotson made an erratic throw. The ball rolled all the way into the right field corner. Wigness was on her horse and scored on the play.
“When something like that happens Bailey pretty much knows I’m not stopping her,” Myers said. “I’m pretty aggressive and, shoot, we run all the time, and this young lady seems to get mad when I do stop her.”
How fast is Wigness?
“Bailey is so fast that she could turn the lights out in the bedroom and be in the bed before it gets dark,” Myers said.
Defense needs improvement
The only thing ASU hasn’t excelled at in the early part of the season is defense. ASU committed four total errors in the field in the doubleheader Friday
Through three games, the Sun Devils have a .949 fielding percentage. Last season ASU finished with a .976 fielding percentage. All of the errors have occurred in the infield.
“It’s early,” Myers said. “We’re still learning some things. Am I pleased with that? No. We’ve always prided ourselves on our defense. So we’re going to get better. I can guarantee it.”
Senior second baseman Sam Parlich committed two of the errors. She made 15 errors last season, most on the team.
Third baseman Haley Steele let a ball go under her glove.
Junior shortstop Cheyenne Coyle made a fielding error as well. On the plus-side, Coyle has shown tremendous range with a quick first-step.
“It’s just little things that can actually mess you up like that ball today (Friday),” Coyle said. “Some will say it took a bad hop. I know misplayed it, like I should have played the short hop before it had a chance to come up. For me, I was mad at myself obviously, but I couldn’t dwell on it.”
Reach the reporter at justin.janssen@asu.edu
