GRAVETTE — Nervousness is something Lindsee LaBrecque has learned to deal with during her first two years with Gravette’s softball team.
The Lady Lions’ pitcher dealt with her nerves as a freshman pitcher last year when she faced older, more experienced players. She dealt with it again at the start of this season as she came back from shoulder surgery.
At A Glance
4A-1 District Softball Tournament
at Ozark
Today
GAME 1: No. 5 Lincoln vs. No. 8 Gentry, 4 p.m.
GAME 2: No. 6 Ozark vs. No. 7 Berryville, 6 p.m.
Friday
GAME 3: No. 3 Gravette vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.
GAME 4: No. 4 Pea Ridge vs. Winner Game 1, 6 p.m.
Saturday
GAME 5: No. 1 Farmington vs. Winner Game 4, noon
GAME 6: No. 2 Prairie Grove vs. Winner Game 3, 2 p.m.
Monday
GAME 7: Championship, 6 p.m.
Top four seeds will advance to Class 4A North Region tournament in Farmington.
Those nerves have become a non-issue for LaBrecque, who will return to the circle Friday when Gravette enters the 4A-1 District Tournament in Ozark. The Lady Lions have earned the No. 3 seed, meaning they received a first-round bye and need one victory to earn a regional tournament berth next week in Farmington.
“It was nerve-wracking, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought,” LaBrecque said. “I’m sort of used to it by now. This year, I’m a lot more calm.
“Last year, I almost felt like I had to it and thought ‘these girls are expecting me to win this game.’ This year, I know I have the defense behind me.”
LaBrecque assumed the pitching duties in midseason last year as Gravette finished 18-9 and reached the second round of the Class 4A State Tournament. She admitted there were times when the nerves were present and caused her to overthrow some of her pitches.
She has learned from that experience and made it pay off this spring. She’s learned to mix her fastball with her changeup — now her favorite pitch when it works — and rise ball and become a more effective pitcher instead of a thrower.
“We worked hard during the offseason on hitting spots, locating pitches and pitching to a batter’s weakness,” Gravette coach Taos Jones said. “This year, she’s bought into that system a lot more. She understands not to overthrow and let her defense work for her.
“If she can get ground balls and not worry about striking everybody out, we’ll be just fine. Defensively, we’ve done that for her, and she’s figuring it out that the defense is playing behind her.”
The biggest surprise for Jones was having LaBrecque available to pitch for the entire season after her September surgery. It was scheduled to be a simple procedure to tighten the shoulder, but that was before a torn labrum was discovered and made the surgery more serious.
LaBrecque had to keep her arm in a sling for a month, and Jones fully expected not having her ready to pitch until spring break rolled around. That was before LaBrecque put in some extensive therapy work and was declared ready to go in January.
“I actually started therapy on my birthday, and I hit it hard,” she said. “I started throwing again right after Christmas break, and I shouldn’t have been throwing until the middle of February.
“I came back really fast, and worked really hard to get back to where I was. When I threw in my first game, I felt accomplished that I had come back, but I was almost back to dealing the nerves. A lot of it was ‘what if I mess up my shoulder again.’”
LaBrecque enters tournament play with a 6-8 record entering postseason play, but she has an impressive 1.59 earned run average and has allowed only 77 hits through 96.2 innings. She’s been even tougher in the circle during 4A-1 Conference play, going 5-2 with a 0.89 ERA, including a no-hitter April 9 against Pea Ridge.
“This is my opinion — and not a shot on anybody else — we’re going in with one of the best pitchers in the conference,” Jones said. “If we play defense and hit the ball, we’ll be fine.”