Kelly starting pitcher remains a mystery in playoffs

~ Hawks' Beggs and Riley stay on call when it comes to starting duties.

It's 30 minutes before a postseason game begins and Kelly softball coach Rhonda Ratledge continues to mull over one of the most important pregame decisions.

Who's going to be her starting pitcher?

Jessica Riley and Heather Beggs both warm up like they're going to get the nod. They admit their coach never tips her hand to reveal which way she's leaning.

"Coach Rat has her own way of doing things," Beggs said. "You can never really tell."

Kelly pitchers Heather Beggs, left, and Jessica Riley often don't know who will get the call to the pitching circle until just before the start of the game. (Kit Doyle)

They don't bother trying to influence her decision during the day. They know it wouldn't work.

"I have no clue until she comes up and tells me the game ball is in there Jess, or the game ball is in there Heather," Riley said. "Then you know."

Finally, Ratledge approaches one pitcher to let her know she'll get the start, only minutes before a game begins.

"I make sure both pitchers are ready," Ratledge said. "It's not like I'm just throwing it on them. Both pitchers know what they have to do when they get out there. In the past, it seems like they sit on it and dwell on it and dwell on it."

It's hard to argue with the results. Ratledge is one of the winningest coaches in the state, ranking sixth in wins entering this season, and she's led Kelly back to the state final four. The Hawks reached the final four last year and last won a state title in 2004.

Ratledge pores over the opponent's statistics before making her decision on who to start. In the end, she goes with her gut feeling.

"I sit down and I kind of look at that other team," Ratledge said. "If they have trouble hitting a changeup, well OK, who's been throwing that changeup a little bit better? ... Pretty much toward the end of the season that's been what I've been looking at.

"But you have to give them an opportunity during the season. That's why they went every other day, splitting those games. That way they have an opportunity to work those pitches and perfect them."

Beggs, who had only started one of the Hawks' last seven games before Saturday's state quarterfinal, got the start against Principia and delivered a two-hitter.

Neither Riley nor Beggs said she minded not finding out the starter until minutes before the game starts. Riley said it helps her better prepare to play.

"I'd get more nervous about it and I'd be thinking about it," Riley said. "I would rather just know 20 minutes. It does get kind of stressful sometimes, but I'd rather have it that way. That way I don't think about it. I'm the type of person I'd be thinking about it and mess it up."

There's the potential for a rivalry to develop between the two pitchers as they battle for starts. But instead of becoming frustrated when the other one starts, they turn into a cheerleader on the bench.

"I just say, 'Well, her instinct was Heather, so obviously it was meant to be Heather,'" Riley said. "She does good, so I'm like, 'OK, it was Heather's turn today,' because we can't both pitch. I'm just happy for her."

Riley and Beggs bring their own strengths to the mound. Beggs devastates hitters with her offspeed pitches, floating changeups into the zone to throw off their timing. Riley tries to overpower a hitter on one pitch, then comes back with a changeup to befuddle her.

"Jess is more mixing speed," Ratledge said. "Heather has that changeup, that floating changeup, and her rise. I don't want to say one moves the ball better than the other because they both throw inside and outside, keep that ball moving.

"They are pretty equal."

Ratledge hasn't decided who will start Friday's state semifinal game. She knows waiting until the last minute creates problems for the opposition because it can't prepare for one pitcher. Ratledge will take any advantage she can get.

"I'm sure that the other team, if they call Principia trying to get a scouting report on us, they're going to get the scouting report on Heather, and I might end up throwing Jess that first game," she said.

Ratledge also knows waiting to decide on a starter helps her two pitchers even more this week. She's trying to control their anxiety.

"Last night, I could not sleep," Riley said Monday. "I was waiting. I was just waiting. I wish it was Friday right now.

"I kind of daydream on and off about what's going to happen. But then I shake it off, I got to pay attention [in class]. Then it will come back. It's just really hard to pay attention in class."