GILLIES HOPES TO RISE FROM GRIFFIN'S SHADOW.Byline: LEE BARNATHAN With each pitch Sara Griffin makes, Jamie Gillies takes one step closer to next season, when she will take over as the top pitcher for the Michigan 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. Those are big shoes to fill. Griffin holds several school records and has led the Wolverines to three straight College World Series appearances. For now, Gillies watches, learns and waits for her turn. It's enough to make a player question if she has what it takes. Gillies, a sophomore, has asked herself that many times, most recently last week at Penn State. She gave up a home run and her ERA jumped to 2.68, where it remained following the weekend series with Ohio State. Anything higher than 1.50 is considered high. Good thing Griffin, a senior from Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , is around. ``She helps me no matter what,'' said Gillies, from Saugus High. ``She took it upon herself to take me under her wing.'' Griffin has done plenty to help build the No. 2-ranked Wolverines into a national power. After the three Ohio State games, she's 18-0 with a 1.03 ERA and holds school records of 89 career victories, a .936 win percentage and 505 strikeouts. She also has a mean bat, holding career batting Batting has several meanings:
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 . She's second with a .384 career batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. , 240 hits and 129 runs, and she's third with 68 walks. ``It's hard going in after her, just because she's so good,'' said Gillies, who is 9-1 this season. ``No one thinks I can do the job as well. My dad heard a couple of spectators say Sara was going to carry the team and I wasn't going to carry my part. My goal is to prove them wrong.'' Griffin and Gillies often talk about game situations and what to do in them. Griffin doesn't hesitate to point out Gillies' mistakes and show her how to handle those situations differently. When Gillies doubts herself, Griffin is there to reassure re·as·sure tr.v. re·as·sured, re·as·sur·ing, re·as·sures 1. To restore confidence to. 2. To assure again. 3. To reinsure. her. ``I said, `You're so much better than last week,' '' Griffin said. Gillies is also adjusting to a new windup. Coach Carol Hutchins wants her to stop slapping slapping, n massage technique that uses the flat palms of the hands percussively; a form of tapotement. See also tapotement. her glove glove, hand covering with a separate sheath for each finger. The earliest gloves, relics of the cave dwellers, closely resembled bags. Reaching to the elbow, they were most probably worn solely for protection and warmth. on her leg as she begins her windup. ``We're trying to get her to throw more fluid and have more wrist snap,'' Hutchins said. ``Hitting her leg tightens her wrist. Jamie can throw as hard as Griffin, but she doesn't always. Jamie needs to get better with her confidence.'' Still, Griffin has seen the progress Gillies has made. ``She has more confidence in herself,'' Griffin said. ``You look into someone's face and you know how ready they are. Last year, her face said, `OK, I hope I'm doing OK.' She was trying, but she was afraid. ``This year it's, `I'm going to get this done.' It's a more determined look.'' Splitting up: Frank Giordano's wardrobe A wardrobe (sometimes called an "armoire") is a cabinet used for storing clothes. The earliest wardrobe was a chest, and it was not until some degree of luxury was attained in regal palaces and the castles of powerful nobles that separate accommodation was provided for the gets funny looks all the time. He appears at Arizona softball games wearing an Arizona cap and a Washington shirt. Arizona fans tell him he's confused. No, Frank assures them. He has daughters playing in both places. The Arizona faithful know Nicole Giordano, a freshman outfielder who's batting over .400 for the top-ranked Wildcats. They don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. about daughter Jeanine, a sophomore catcher for the fourth-ranked Huskies. Having two collegiate col·le·giate adj. 1. Of, relating to, or held to resemble a college. 2. Of, for, or typical of college students. 3. Of or relating to a collegiate church. daughters who demand attention has made it difficult for Frank and his wife, Cathy. How do you split your time? Also, how do you split your loyalties? The Giordanos walk the fine line. ``We have to be careful not to go to so many of one's games. That has been a problem,'' Cathy said. It's easy when the two ex-Saugus High stars play each other, as they did Saturday in Tucson. Or when they're in the same tournament, as they were last month in Fullerton. Then both parents show up. For all the other times, however, they have to choose, which usually sets the daughters into whine-filled tirades. ``We always get mad at my mom,'' Nicole said. ``She used to watch my games (as a child) and then she would go over and watch Jeanine play. We are very demanding of their time. My dad came to watch me play (at Tucson), and my sister got so mad. So my mom had to go to Seattle to watch her play.'' |
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