M-P fastpitch gears up to defend district championship

The Tomahawk fastpitch team hopes to pick up not far from where they left off last season.

By Danielle Szulczewski • March 6, 2009 12:45 pm
Junior Jen Rosie pitches for the Tomahawks as the girls work on game situations and coach K.T. Allyn tries players out in different positions. Like last season
Junior Jen Rosie pitches for the Tomahawks as the girls work on game situations and coach K.T. Allyn tries players out in different positions. Like last season

MARYSVILLE — The Tomahawk fastpitch team hopes to pick up not far from where they left off last season.

After getting off to a rocky start, the Tomahawks surged into the district tournament, knocking off Goliath teams with their slingshots. They earned a district championship and a state tournament appearance, the program’s first in four years.

So although M-P graduated much of its infield — first baseman Skyler Peterson, shortstop Kristina Sherriff and third baseman Chrissy Atterson — as well as two more varsity seniors, the team returns players at key positions from last season.

Returning infielders junior Jen Rosie and sophomore Riley Fritz who will likely split time at pitcher and second base this season. While Fritz left a huge impression on the league at pitcher last season, outdueling more experienced seniors, Allyn plans to make Rosie a big part of the rotation as well. Behind home plate, the Tomahawks return senior Courtney Perrine, who also serves as team co-captain.

“I think we have a lot of skilled players coming up,” she said, looking ahead to the season.

Several young players from last season are poised to fill in the gaps left by the departing seniors. One who will be playing a bigger part for the Tomahawks will likely be sophomore Megan Rollings. An outfielder on defense, Rollings was a critical part of the batting order last year and could fill in for the Tommies at shortstop.

“She had several clutch RBIs to keep us in the playoffs,” said Marysville coach K.T. Allyn.

Another big batter for Marysville will be Perrine’s co-captain, senior Jessica Tanigawa. An outfielder, Tanigawa’s strength is her speed, earning her the nickname “cheetah girl” from her coach. A third impact batter may be Marissa Lewis, who came up from junior varsity to contribute at designated hitter last season.

Whereas last season the Tomahawks counted on freshmen in key positions to step up, it sounds like the team may be looking for junior varsity and swing players like Lewis to blossom at the varsity level. Allyn said many of the team’s returning players showed improvement this season after working hard in the off-season.

Despite their infield losses, Marysville doesn’t expect to be overlooked quite so severely as they were last year. But nor are they big favorites to win districts again. Tanigawa, Perrine and Allyn all counted Stanwood and Arlington as two tough rivals.

“I think we were underestimated last year, but I don’t think anyone will be gunning for us,” Allyn said as the Tomahawks get ready to defend their district title. “We’ll fight it out to the bitter end.”

The girls start on the road against Mount Vernon March 16 with their league schedule kicking off on the road against Snohomish March 24. They’ll face Arlington and Stanwood in consecutive games, hosting Arlington March 31 and visiting Stanwood April 4.