STARKVILLE — Last season, Swayze Hollenhead made a difficult position switch she knew was coming.
For the first two years of her high school career at East Webster, she starred at third base and helped lead the Lady Wolverines to a pair of Class 1A state titles.
She knew better than anyone else what it would take to help East Webster navigate through a new classification and find its way back to a championship.
East Webster coaches decided to move their best fielder to pitcher, where coach Meleah Brown believes every team should put its best athlete.
“Swayze”s never had to do it because she”s been under Jessica Halterman, the one who pitched every year they won (state championships),” Brown said. “Last year, she wasn”t used to the pressure of being the pitcher. This year, she”s gotten a lot better at hitting her spots and controlling the game. I never doubted she”d become a great pitcher.”
Hollenhead (15-6) pitched before she played for former East Webster coach and current principal Bill Brand and later Brown, so she had an idea of what to expect in making the transition from third base to the circle.
However, she didn”t think it would take a season to get to the level she”s accustomed to playing.
The Mississippi State signee is projected to play second or third base at the next level, but knowing her team needed her to pitch to have a shot at a state title, Hollenhead went to work last summer.
“It took all summer last year to get back into the full pitching motion, doing everything like I used to when I was younger,” Hollenhead said. “When you”re pitching, you”ve got to be in good form for seven innings. It didn”t bother me as much as I thought it would have, but it took a lot of adjustment. Even though I had thrown before and knew how to get into shape, it was still tiring.”
Hollenhead has also been one of East Webster”s most consistent hitters, but she went 0-for-8 in its Class 2A first-round sweep of Eupora. The performance at the plate was uncharacteristic, but Hollenhead was stellar in the circle.
Finding the balance between shouldering the responsibility of being a leader and not letting a bad game affect the big picture has been Hollenhead”s only hurdle this season, Brown said.
“Sometimes she gets down on herself and needs that lift from somebody else,” Brown said. “(Sister) Mamie is usually there for her; sometimes I need to pull her to the side and let her know she has to calm down and realize if she doesn”t do her job on the mound we don”t win games. She just gets a little overworked at times.”
Brown said Hollenhead”s changeup has improved and she can consistently throw her screwball, curveball, and dropball for strikes. Her best asset is her velocity, which tops out at more than 60 mph.
“The teams we”ve played haven”t been able to keep up with her,” Brown said.
Hollenhead, one of just two seniors on the team, wants to get the Lady Wolverines back to the state title game and relive the memories she shared with her older sister, Paisley, who was a second baseman on three straight state title teams.
Paisley graduated in 2009, the last year the Lady Wolverines won a state title.
Now, Swayze hopes to share the experience with her younger sister, Mamie, an eighth-grader who starts at Swayze”s old position, third base.
“Mamie has grown so much and become a good softball player,” Swayze said. “I know she”ll get even better when I”m gone. It”s really a blessing I”ve got to play with her. We”ve never really looked ourselves as awesome players. We don”t expect to be called great. We just always tried to do our jobs because that”s what our daddy always says.”
East Webster will play Mantachie at 6 tonight at Eupora High School in Game 1 of the second round of the 2A playoffs. Game 2 will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mantachie.
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