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Turns out
that pitcher happens to be Ryle senior Kirsten Allen who is now
allowed to play – and who is still intimidating and overpowering
players all across Northern Kentucky and then some. And to this
day not many players still have a decent chance to hit the ball
off her.
Allen, 18,
admits that she doesn’t quite remember what the exact set of
circumstances were back in those recreational league days and
just laughs it off when the subject is brought up.
Something Special Early On
Ryle head
coach Bill Matteoli knew he had something special in Allen when
she started for him as an eighth grader.
“I knew it
as soon as she walked out onto the field for tryouts,” recalls
Matteoli. “Kirsten is simply just the best I have ever seen. I
don’t mean to take anything away from some of the other great
pitchers who have played in the area before her because there
were some really good ones, but it’s not even remotely close.
I’m still just in awe of her.”
It’s easy
to be in awe of someone who is rewriting the record book as she
goes. Allen already owns seven Kentucky High School Athletic
Association pitching records and enters her senior season ranked
second in five other categories. If history is any indication
chances are good by the time she graduates she will have added
to her seven records.
The game of
fast-pitch is in her blood. Allen started playing recreational
softball in the second grade and by the age of 10 was playing
for the Kentucky Cobras, one of the top fast-pitch club
organizations in the state. But along with fast-pitch, she was
also playing basketball and experiencing a high level of success
in volleyball. By her eighth grade year she dropped basketball
and played high school and club volleyball through her junior
season before giving that up as well.
“My heart
was just not into basketball, and by the start of my sophomore
year I started to think that I should just stick to fast-pitch.
I loved playing volleyball but it was just a gut feeling and
knew that it was the right direction to go.”
Allen’s
parents – Patrick and Marti – were both college track athletes
at Kansas State University and had suggested to her that at some
point it would be wise to focus on fast-pitch if that was
ultimately going to be her sport of choice. Allen estimates she
was spending between 16 to 20 hours a week on both sports, and
finally shelved volleyball for fast-pitch only. It proved to be
a wise choice, as Allen is signed to play next season at the
University of Oklahoma, one of the top five college fast-pitch
programs in the country.
Training Regimen
It is no
big secret that fast-pitch can add wear and tear to a pitcher’s
body. Allen said she has had to deal with stress fractures in
her arm and leg over the last couple of years but overall has
remained relatively injury-free for most of her career.
“I think
playing multiple sports actually benefited me,” she says. “I
was able to use different muscles and that helps.”
Allen
throws between 100-115 pitches daily and has been lifting
weights and working out with a personal trainer twice a week for
the past couple of years. She has also managed to squeeze in
several training sessions with renowned pitching coach Ernie
Parker.
Her
training regimen is further aided by the fact that she can
simply walk down steps and into a newly finished basement that
includes a 60-foot pitching area fully equipped with a net where
she can hone her skills without leaving the house.
The
training and experience over the years has enabled Allen to
build a repertoire of pitches that includes a riser, drop curve,
change-up, screwball, knuckle changeup, curve ball and a
fastball that has been clocked as high as 67 MPH.
“She works
extremely hard,” says Matteoli. “I’ve never seen an athlete who
works so hard at what they do. Kirsten is still a kid who likes
to have fun, giggle and goof around sometimes but when she steps
between the lines that’s all over; it’s nothing but total
focus.”
Team First, Numbers Second
It doesn’t
take a rocket scientist to draw a parallel between Ryle’s
successes on the softball diamond with the emergence of Allen.
Since she took to the mound as an eight-grader back in 2004, the
Lady Raiders have won four straight 33rd District
titles, three straight Ninth Region titles (2005-07), a state
title in 2006 where she was tournament MVP and a state-runner up
title in 2007. The Lady Raiders 2006 squad was the first
Northern Kentucky school to win a state title since the
inception of the tournament. Along the way she has accumulated
a host of individual awards at the local and state level.
“There’s no
question Kirsten has been a big part of the program’s success,”
says Matteoli, starting his seventh year as head coach. “Does
that mean that the key hits we got here or there in a certain
game or the plays we made in the field didn’t help us win
games? No, they did. It’s really hard to say but no doubt she
is a big part of what we do.”
The numbers
really are staggering (see sidebar), at least to most people
with the exception of the one who is posting them.
“I set my
goals high and push hard to reach them but I don’t look at the
numbers,” says Allen. “You could ask me right now how many
no-hitters I have thrown or something like that and I have no
idea. I always just do the best I can to help my team win.
Winning a state title was overwhelming and such a feeling of
accomplishment and we want to win another state title.”
By The Numbers
Career To
Date (2004-07)
Wins – 108,
Losses – 19, Saves – 3
Total
Innings Pitched – 834, 15 in relief
ERA – 0.29
Shutouts –
80
No-hitters
– 30
Perfect
Games – 11
One-hitters
– 36
Strikeouts
– 1,387
Walks – 80
Hits –
200/2,450 batters faced
Opposition
Batting Average - .082
KHSAA
Fast-pitch Records
Most
no-hitters in a season – 13
Most
no-hitters in a career – 30
Most
perfect games in a career – 11
Most
shutouts in a season – 29 (2007)
Lowest ERA
in a season – 0.19 (2007)
Lowest ERA
in a career – 0.29
Fewest
earned runs allowed/consecutive innings without – 210 (2007)
Currently ranks second all-time in KHSAA History
Most wins
in a season – 36
Most
shutouts in a career – 80
Most
strikeouts in a career – 1,387
Most
strikeouts in a season – 478
Most
no-hitters in a season – 11
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