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O ooomments Heritage Academy's Oswalt signs with East Central c.c.

Adam M1n1ch1no January 16. 2016 7:50·10 PM

Kaitlyn Oswalt knows she can't rely on one pitch in the circle.

Oswalt has played enough fast-pitch softball in high school and on the travel ball circuit to realiz• the top pitchers have a variety of pitches to keep hitters off balance. That's why Oswalt has work< hard the past couple ofyears to de,·elop confidence in other pitches so she could use them in any situation.

The hard work paid off for Oswalt in the fall, as she learned bow to mix her cbangeup "~th her other pitches to become a dominant pitcher for the Heritage Academy softball team.

Oswalt didn't know it at the time, but she hoped the cbangeup would be one of the final pieces sh1 needed to realize her longtime goal of pla);ng softbaJI in college. That dream became a reality Friday, as Oswalt signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball at East Central Community College in Decatur. "I know I can't go to college and just throw a fastball and get away with it because it is going to juS1 overpower them in college," Oswalt said. "Everybody has seen that fastball before, but not everybody bas seen a good changeup or a good curveball. Everybody is going to have that one pitel; in college that is going to get people off balance." Thanks to the confidence she dC\·eloped in her changeup, Oswalt blossomed in 2015 as one of the state's top pitchers in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAJS). She used that pitch effectively with a drop curveball, a fastball, and two other pitches to keep hitters guessing. She said she is currently working on making her riseball her next "go-to pitch" that she can add to her "toolbox," as Heritage Academy coach Gary Hanis is apt to call it. Harris beliC\·es Oswalt is more excited about the chance to play softball in college than she lets on. He bas watched her emerge as a No. r pitcher who is counted on in the circle every game. He said she embraced that responsibility and relished the chance to work on her craft. "She became a pitcher not just a thrower," Hanis said. "She was a strikeout pitcher last year. This year, she became more ofa finesse pitcher and she could get you either way, "ith the off-speed pitch or with the fastball." Oswalt joins a program that had a record-setting season in 2015. The Lady Warriors finished 48-14 and were the runner up at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Di,~sion II National Championship. ECCC finished second in the South Div;sion of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC), second in the MACJC State tournament, and second in the NJCAA Region 23 tournament. Hanis is confident Oswalt will excel when she is surrounded by players who share her passion and experience for softball. He said he has watched Oswalt emerge as a leader in the circle and at the plate, so be feels she has found the ideal situation for her to take the next step. "I think getting in a good weight program will help her," Hanis said. "I think it will help her deYelop three to four mph on her fastball. I think hitting spots is one thing she " i ll have to work Former Oak Hill Academy standout Maegen Ellis was a freshman on ECCC's 2015 softbaD team.

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