Chloe Tapley is used to taking the initiative.
As a pitcher, Tapley is one of the area”s most proficient strikeout artists.
At the plate, where she admits she doesn”t feel she is as productive, Tapley has learned to slap or to get on base to help her team any way she can.
This season, Tapley hopes the addition of pitcher Jessica Fleming will help allow and the Lady Eagles be even stronger.
The first results were successful.
Following a season-opening victory against Starkville Academy on Friday, Tapley and Fleming split pitching duties Saturday at the Winona Christian tournament. Hebron Christian lost its second game in the double-elimination tournament and had to battle back through the losers” bracket. In all, the Lady Eagles played six games in more than 13 hours.
But the work didn”t faze Tapley. The sophomore right-hander excelled in the circle and at the plate, leading Hebron Christian to a 4-2 showing at Winona that was good for second place.
For her accomplishments, Tapley is The Dispatch Prep Player of the Week.
Tapley pitched 17 innings Friday and Saturday, allowing only three earned runs and striking out 28. She also went 6-for-12, scored eight runs, and had five RBIs.
Tapley said she is glad Fleming, a transfer from East Webster High School who attended Hebron Christian earlier in her career, is back with the team. She feels Fleming will make things easier on the entire team and allow her to play in the infield and to stay fresh throughout the season.
And while Tapley would have liked to have led the Lady Eagles, a Class A school in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, to a championship Saturday, she was pleased with the team”s performance.
“I think we could have done better Friday,” Tapley said of the team”s victory against Class AAA Starkville Academy. “Saturday I think we did pretty good. I think I can do better.”
Tapley expects big things because she has been playing fast-pitch softball for a number of the years. Earlier this summer, she earned MVP honors after helping to lead the Houston Heat 14-and-under fast-pitch travel team to the Dizzy Dean World Series title. The victory marked the team”s fourth straight state title, and its second World Series championship in four seasons. Hebron Christian teammate Alaina Hill and Oak Hill Academy pitcher Mamie Allen also were a part of the Houston Heat team.
In MAIS action, Tapley was the district MVP in 2008 and an All-District performer the past two seasons. She also was the team MVP after leading it in batting average and recording 431 strikeouts in the past three seasons.
Tapley said her screwball is her best pitch. She also has worked to improve her changeup, which she feels is “pretty good, too.” She said she needs more than one out pitch because no pitcher can throw a fastball all of the time and not get hit.
Cass Tapley, Chloe”s father and coach of the Hebron Christian fast-pitch team, said Chloe has matured as a pitcher and manages games better. He said she recognizes she doesn”t have to strike out every hitter and that it is OK to pitch around a batter if she has an open base. He said she also has learned to be better focused in the circle and not to let mistakes in the field affect her.
The addition of Fleming will help keep Chloe mentally and physically fresh, Tapley said.
“(Chloe) is going to go after the hitter,” Tapley said. “Even though her hands are small, she has a rising screwball that is a tough pitch apparently because she gets a lot of swings and misses.”
Tapley feels Chloe”s performance this summer in leading the Heat to five titles in six tournaments (the team placed second in the other event) has given her confidence for this high school season. He said he is looking forward to mixing and matching Chloe and Fleming so both will be fresh to help the team make a run in the postseason.
Tapley also will enjoy watching Chloe (his other daughter, Magen, also is a member of the Hebron Christian team) grow as a pitcher. He said Chloe shook off maybe five pitches he called for her to throw in games at the World Series in Southaven. The result? Five strikeouts.
“She has more confidence in what she is throwing and in her location,” coach Tapley said. “It is going to be great this season having two pitchers, especially when it comes to tournament play. It should give her a little extra edge come late September, and having another pitcher allows her to enjoy the game a little more.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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