MABEN — Swayze Hollenhead left East Webster High School as a four-time state champion softball player.
However, the season the Lady Wolverines were second best in the state will be the most memorable.
Hollenhead piloted East Webster to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 2A state title series this season, where they were swept by Enterprise in Hollenhead”s final games as a Lady Wolverine.
Just one of two seniors on the team, Hollenhead shouldered the load of handling the team”s full-time pitching duties, while also leading the team at the plate.
The 2011 Commercial Dispatch Softball Player of the Year finished the season with a 2.20 ERA and 152 strikeouts in 189 innings. Hollenhead hit .460 with two home runs and 33 RBIs.
Hollenhead had been an offensive threat and a defensive stalwart at third base since her seventh-grade season, but up until last season she”d never been the team”s full-time pitcher. That role was filled by former East Webster star Jessica Halterman, who was the starter for East Webster”s four 1A titles.
“I”d always done it but didn”t have to when I got to high school,” Hollenhead said. “Last year, I used a lot of different pitches but my location wasn”t that great. Coming into my 12th-grade year, I worked all summer and got more accurate. It”s surprising how much better I got this year. I wish I had one more year to do it.”
Hollenhead had a perfect example in Halterman of how to handle the rigors of pitching every inning of an entire season. Still, concerns of how her arm would hold up and how she would adjust to the mental responsibilities of pitching were there.
Her coach, former Bogue Chitto and Copiah-Lincoln Community College pitcher Meleah Brown, knew what it was like to pitch pressure-packed moments. Brown was a member of the 2008 Co-Lin team that finished runner-up in the NJCAA national tournament.
“I pitched from seventh grade up to my senior year and started from Day 1,” Brown said. “That”s just how it was, so I told Swayze it”s possible. I didn”t have anybody else, so I couldn”t afford to have a bad game. She didn”t have anybody else behind her, so she knew the situation. I think it really helped being able to relate to her.”
Outside of giving up nine runs to Enterprise in the elimination game of the 2A title series, Hollenhead was dominant down the stretch this season. Over the last 13 games, a stretch that included two playoff sweeps and five shutouts, Hollenhead gave up an average of 1.62 runs per game.
Hollenhead also provided an emotional lift to the Lady Wolverines, who were displaced after a tornado in late April damaged sporting facilities and ripped through buildings on campus. East Webster students had to finish class at Wood Junior College, and the team had to play games at rival Eupora”s field.
“Before we played Eupora, we were excited because we made the playoffs,” Hollenhead said. “After the tornado came, we wanted to rally for the community. I”m just glad we got to bring something home.”
Hollenhead is signed to play at Mississippi State University and will being fall-ball with the Bulldogs when she gets to campus in August.
Despite being a standout player for East Webster and her travel ball team since seventh grade, she never considered herself a star player.
To make it to the Southeastern Conference — she was also recruited by Auburn — wasn”t realistic until she got her first letter.
“When I was younger, I just wanted to have fun and get to know the game better,” Hollenhead said. “When I got to the high school team, I just wanted to help the team win. In a way, I felt like I was still getting to know who I was on the field. I didn”t really start thinking about my future until I got to 10th grade.
“I”m blessed to get the chance to keep playing the game.”
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