HIGH SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT: CALABASAS STANDOUT IS QUITE A CATCH HARD-WORKING JUNIOR EMERGES AS TOP SOFTBALL PROSPECT.Byline: Ramona Shelburne Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. Staff Writer Samantha Marder remembers it well, the first time she realized she might be good enough to play 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' in college. A recruiting letter from Pacific University in Stockton came in the mail at the start of her sophomore year at Calabasas High. It was as if, suddenly, Marder acquired the self-confidence she'd always lacked. ``I just started to think, 'Maybe I can do this, maybe I want more than this,' '' said Marder, now a junior. ``It definitely pushed me to try and be as good as I can be, and that's earning a scholarship to play in college.'' Since that initial letter, Marder's mailbox A simulated mailbox in the computer that holds e-mail messages. Mailboxes are stored on disk as a file of messages, a database of messages or as an individual file for each message. The standard mailboxes are usually In, Out, Trash and Junk (Spam). has been filled with notes from some of the nation's top college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is played by women at the intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is played by men. programs, including UCLA's, Kansas', Utah's and Oregon State's. Marder never envisioned this when she went to her travel ball coach, Tommy Sotelo, a few years ago and told him she wanted to be a catcher. At first, Sotelo balked balk v. balked, balk·ing, balks v.intr. 1. To stop short and refuse to go on: The horse balked at the jump. 2. , knowing Marder had an average throwing arm at best. He told Marder the only way he'd agree to it was she had to promise to put in a lot of extra time. ``A couple years ago, to be honest, I was horrible,'' she said. ``People would make jokes about how I couldn't even throw the ball down to second base. ``I'm definitely not the born athlete. I had to work harder than anyone else to even get remotely good at softball. ... I didn't even think about playing softball in college. But wherever I end up going, it will be because of Tom (Sotelo). He pushes me harder than I think I can go, and then we go another minute.'' Marder emerged during her sophomore season, hitting .417 with five home runs and claiming first-team All-Marmonte League honors. Last summer, she played for Sotelo with the Valley Breeze 18-under Gold team. In Calabasas' first eight games this season, she is batting Batting has several meanings:
``Nobody has worked harder than Sam for this,'' Sotelo said. ``She's turned herself into a big-time prospect.'' If she keeps it up, Marder likely will gain a softball scholarship to a Division I college next fall. It's been some time since a Calabasas High softball player was awarded a scholarship. The school traditionally is stronger in tennis and swimming and hasn't made the playoffs in softball since 2001, before leaving the Frontier League The Frontier League, based in Troy, Illinois, is a professional, independent baseball organization located in the Midwestern United States and Western Pennsylvania. It operates mostly in cities not served by Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either. for the more competitive Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. . ``Calabasas isn't known for sports that you get dirty at,'' Marder said. ``We're known more for our country-club sports. ... I thought about going someplace some·place adv. & n. Somewhere: "I didn't care where I was from so long as it was someplace else" Garrison Keillor. See Usage Note at everyplace. else a few times, but it's high school. I love my school, and I love my team. We may not be the best team, but we get along really well, and we have a lot of fun out there.'' The Coyotes have improved each season they've been in the Marmonte League, growing into a dangerous team capable of pulling off upsets and derailing championship hopes. Last season, Marder and the Coyotes did just that, twice beating Westlake to keep it out of the playoffs. ``Last year was the first time people were playing our team and not putting in their third-string pitchers,'' senior captain Paige Seegan said. ``They had to fight for their victories. ``Last year we had talent, but the dedication wasn't there as much. This year I think people are a lot more dedicated. Sam is probably the most dedicated person on the team. She's always pumped and positive. She's an amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. athlete, and she's always so supportive of everyone on the team.'' Ramona Shelburne, (818) 713-3617 ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Calabasas catcher Samantha Marder is The Marder I (SdKfz 135) was a German World War II tank destroyer, armed with a 75 mm anti-tank gun. Most Marder I were built on the base of the Tracteur Blinde 37L (Lorraine), a French artillery mover/armoured personnel carrier of which the Germans had acquired more than three batting .500 with two home runs this season. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer |
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