San Benito pitcher Marisa Ibarra has compiled some impressive
stats already in her career, and manager Scott Smith feels she’s
pitching better than she has at any time for the Lady ‘Balers
Hollister
With the rather potent offense the San Benito softball team brings game in and game out, and the air-tight defense that allows few balls out of the infield, having a pitcher of Marisa Ibarra’s caliber is almost unfair.
Almost.
Standing just 5-foot-2, the 16-year-old hurler delivers each pitch like its her last, throws with a focused, concentrated passion, and keeps hitters off-balance, and usually off the base paths, with each throw.
With a .900 winning percentage as a pitcher for the San Benito softball team, it’s no wonder why manager Scott Smith – usually postgame after yet-another dominating performance by his ace – tells his team how lucky they are not to face Ibarra each game.
“I think this year, we’re at the top of the (pitching) barrel,” said Smith, who described Ibarra as unflappable. “We’re not looking up at anybody as far as pitching goes. If I had to choose a pitcher in our league or in any league, I’d choose Marisa.”
As bold a statement as that is, it’d be tough to disagree with it, as no one – not a single team in the Tri-County Athletic League – has scored on San Benito so far this season.
Seven games. No runs allowed.
The Lady ‘Balers are lucky, indeed.
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Support is something Ibarra has had her whole life – both on and off the mound.
At age 11, Ibarra signed up to play for the Hollister Heat travel softball team. She had seen the College World Series on television, and the summer months can be long when there is nothing to do.
“All my friends were playing. I just thought it’d be a fun thing to do,” said Ibarra, who signed up with her sister, Katrina, and played third base for the Heat. Through softball, and notably the Heat, Ibarra would come in contact with Lizzy Gatto, Elena Fata, Bri Romero and JC Clayton – the foursome that currently make up the infield behind Ibarra for San Benito.
It wasn’t until Ibarra and her father, Leo, were tossing the ball around in the backyard did the idea of pitching – and not third base – become an option. Said Ibarra, “We were just messing around at first, and then I got into it and realized that I could actually do it.”
The Hollister hurler began to pitch competitively in the seventh grade at Maze Middle School, and that summer, her family hired a pitching coach to take it to the next level.
Learning techniques that she still employs today – using your legs to push off, snapping the wrist – Ibarra has since morphed from a third baseman into a dominant pitcher.
Compiling a record of 71-8, Ibarra could eclipse the century mark some time during next season, but she says she couldn’t do it without the defense behind her.
“Let my defense work for me,” said Ibarra of her mentality on the mound. “Keep the ball down and let them hit ground balls.
“It’s good to get strikeouts, but you don’t want to go for a strikeout and have them hit a home run – just make them hit my pitch.”
Ibarra can certainly get the strikeout, though, racking up 449 in her high school career, but it’s that support – this time coming from her infield – that puts Ibarra at ease.
“I have all the confidence in my defense every year,” Ibarra said. “It gives me more confidence knowing that I don’t have to strike everybody out to get the win.”
And her defense has confidence in her as well. Third-baseman Lizzy Gatto says Ibarra is the best pitcher in the league.
“… When she is pitching well, she’s phenomenal,” Gatto said. “We have sort of the upper hand in pitching, and it takes a lot of stress off of us.”
Earning the win was on the mind of Ibarra perhaps a little too much at the beginning of the season, however. After having stellar freshman and sophomore seasons, leading to a pair of Central Coast Section titles, expectations were rather high, Ibarra said, as she was “more worried about the outcome of the game instead of just relaxing like the past two years.”
“After about 10 games this year, it didn’t look like she was having fun at all,” Smith said. “I think she’s matured a lot … She’s really calm now and nothing seems to get her shaken up.
“Her athleticism on the mound and her demeanor separates her from any other pitcher in the league, I think.”
While the Lady ‘Balers have yet to have given up a run, their closest game of the league season came last Thursday in Salinas.
After beating the Cowboys 8-0 in the TCAL opener on March 18, San Benito was held to just one hit in last week’s contest. Salinas, however, committed three errors in the field.
In what was perhaps a perfect mix of pitching and defense, Ibarra gave up just one hit as well, struck out 12 Salinas batters, while the defense behind her played flawless.
San Benito won 2-0.
“It’s a team thing,” Ibarra said. “Without the defense I have now, I guarantee I wouldn’t have 70 wins.”
Said Gatto, “We are lucky not to face her, because she’s pitching really well.”
