A LOT ON HER PLATE; FINNERTY LIKED CATCHER'S ROLE.Byline: Jim Inghram Daily News Staff Writer Meghan Finnerty demonstrated in her first three years at Moorpark High she could handle playing third base, so she went searching for a new challenge. She found it - behind the plate. ``Meghan was my starting third baseman third baseman n. Baseball The infielder stationed near third base. Noun 1. third baseman - (baseball) the person who plays third base third sacker as a freshman,'' Moorpark coach Tom Humphries Tom Humphries is a sportswriter and columnist who writes for The Irish Times. He lives in Dublin with Mary and his two children, Molly and Caitlín. [1] Humphries, born in London, [1] grew up in Raheny, on the northside of Dublin, and was educated at St. said. ``She played there three years and did a spectacular job, but she had it in her mind that she wanted to catch and she's an equally incredible catcher.'' There wasn't anything in particular that made Finnerty make the move. She just did it, with Humphries' blessing of course. ``I didn't really have a reason,'' she said. ``It's just something I wanted to try.'' Humphries figured it was Finnerty's take-charge style that prompted the switch. ``The catcher is right in the heat of things,'' Humphries said. ``She thrives on being involved and being around all the action.'' The transition was a smooth one. In fact, Finnerty became so proficient pro·fi·cient adj. Having or marked by an advanced degree of competence, as in an art, vocation, profession, or branch of learning. n. An expert; an adept. that Humphries ended a tradition of calling pitches from the dugout dugout: see canoe. and let Finnerty handle that duty. ``Strategically speaking she does a great job,'' Humphries said. ``She worked well with our pitchers Erin (Heinbechner) and Kristie Bentley. She was very sound mechanically. I don't remember her having any passed balls. A pitch would have to be way over her head to get by her. She just had it all defensively. Her snap throws to first always sent a message. Teams tried to steal off of her, but she made it a point to let them know that she wouldn't let that happen.'' Finnerty did the job on offense, too. She hit .438 with a home run and 18 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in and had four doubles, four triples and scored 16 runs. She was selected to the All-Frontier League team and was chosen as Moorpark's female athlete of the year Athlete of the Year
``The way our athletics have been running here makes that no small feat,'' Humphries said. ``There are a bunch of good athletes at this school, but she is just a really incredible athlete.'' Finnerty, who plays on a travel softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' team, also participated in volleyball volleyball, outdoor or indoor ball and net game played on a level court. An upright net, 3 ft (or 1 m) high, the top of which stands 8 ft (2.43 m) from the ground for men, 7 ft 4 1/8 in (2. and basketball. She was also actively involved in school clubs and was an elected officer for the senior class. ``She's a natural leader,'' Humphries said. ``In my five years at Moorpark she was the first team captain I had. It was a no-brainer. She's the kind of player, young lady and friend that other players look to for advice. The fact that she was the first team captain we had isn't a slam against anybody else. It's just a compliment to her. A lot of kids like to play the game, but sometimes they don't see the team part of it. Meghan was constantly striving to make the team better.'' Her talents were put to use in the Ventura County All-Star game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games Tuesday. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1-2) Moorpark High's Meghan Finnerty, shown above sliding into home plate against Agoura, was her team's leader. Below, she practices for Monday's Daily News All-Star Softball Game. Terri Thuente/Daily News Hans Gutknecht/Daily News |
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