Softball: Massanelli getting it done for Rogers High

NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Maddie Massanelli, Rogers High pitcher, is 11-1 on the year.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Maddie Massanelli, Rogers High pitcher, is 11-1 on the year.

ROGERS -- If Maddie Massanelli could pick one thing to do at practice every day, the Rogers High junior would leave her softball glove at home.

"If you ask her what she wants to do at softball practice, it's 'can I hit all day,'" said Rogers coach Mike Harper with a smile.

Massanelli is a very good hitter after averaging .365 as a freshman, .442 during an injury-plagued sophomore year and .390 this season, including .418 in 7A-West Conference games while having the second most RBIs on the team.

"Hitting has always been my absolute favorite part of playing softball," Massanelli said. "I look forward to doing that every day. You have to hit and score runs to win games."

Pitching is important too and Massanelli is as good a pitcher as she is a hitter, and maybe even better, for a Rogers team that enters the Class 7A State Tournament as a No. 1 seed after winning the conference championship with a 13-1 record. The state tournament begins today at Veterans Park in Rogers, but the Lady Mounties have a first-round bye and they will face the winner of today's North Little Rock-Fort Smith Northside game at 10 a.m. Friday.

Massanelli is 11-1 on the year with a 1.40 ERA and she ended the regular season with a 7-0 record and 1.04 ERA in conference games. She has 87 strikeouts and 10 walks in 80 innings of work. In 7A-West games, Massanelli struckout 58 while dishing up five walks.

What makes her season in the circle even more impressive is the fact that she did not throw one pitch her sophomore year.

Massanelli threw 17 innings outside of conference games as a freshman, but a foot injury her sophomore season kept her out of the Lady Mounties' lineup for half the season. When she did return, she could only hit.

"She was never fully healthy last year," Harper said. "She got where she could hit the ball, but she couldn't pitch last year. She couldn't push off."

Massanelli had surgery last fall and started pitching again in January. She said it didn't take her long to get back into a groove.

"I feel really good right now," Massanelli said. "I just went to work with coach Harper and the other pitchers. These girls really push me."

One player that really pushes Massanelli is senior pitcher Haylee Zimmerman. Zimmerman is a four-year starter for Rogers and she holds the record for most career wins at the school. There is is little difference between the two pitchers and Massanelli said that is a plus for the Lady Mounties.

"It is very comforting knowing that we have someone else there," Massanelli said. "We are close off the field, and we know the other person is going to be there if we need them. But, we are both competitive and we both want to be pitching."

And that is a winning combination.

Sports on 05/14/2015

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