If any high school student ever wished they could postpone Spring Break, it might be El Dorado’s Grace Hargett. The senior pitcher could not have gotten off to a hotter start to the softball season, after hurling her second no-hitter Friday night at Little Rock Fair.
“Grace's confidence is riding high right now, growing with each performance,” said El Dorado coach Chris Ezell. “She has been outstanding up to this point in the season.”
Outstanding? Try a 7-0 pitching record where she’s allowed a total of eight hits all season. The 5-foot-6 righty has amassed 76 strikeouts with an 0.389 earned run average.
Hargett has shown more efficiency in the circle this season. Ezell said her improvement is in her head as well as her arm.
“Her mental toughness has improved so much over the last three seasons as our starter and that has to be attributed to her work ethic,” he said. “As a sophomore, she felt like she needed to be perfect with each pitch for us to win and she would really put too much responsibility on her own shoulders. That resulted in high pitch counts and high numbers of walks and strikeouts. The free base runners added up and teams were cashing in on those opportunities.
“This year, I feel like her whole demeanor in the circle has improved and she realizes her defense is really solid behind her.”
Hargett’s pitch counts are averaging around 71 per game, compared to 99 per game last year.
“A big part of that is aided by knowing that if they do hit it, we have players behind her that can take away hits from dropping in,” Ezell continued. “There have been a couple of sequences where she walked or hit a batter to start innings and the defense stepped up with double plays to end the threats and she would immediately respond with a strikeout to end the inning.”
So far this season, the Lady Wildcats have not committed more than two errors in any game Hargett has pitched.
El Dorado (8-0) will cut its Spring Break short with an appearance in the Magnolia Tournament, beginning on Friday.
The competition will heat up for the Lady Wildcats, who compete in a rugged softball league. Expect Hargett’s red-hot start to almost certainly level out at some point. But, Ezell hopes the confidence she’s built will help carry her through any rough outings. She also has the support of an improved offense and a solid defense.
“We still have another tournament and several games left on our schedule. We can't really expect her to be this dominant every time out,” Ezell said. “We will continue to depend on her in the circle and our team has certainly been playing inspired defense behind her.”