Shepard senior Anamarie Solorio is making up for lost time in a big way this season.
She’s leading off for the Astros and is one of their best hitters. In the circle, she has emerged as the staff ace while racking up strikeouts.
And she’s also good at keeping her teammates dancing.
“After a strikeout, I look out and the outfielders make K’s for me,” Solorio said. “I just kind of laugh. Then I get back in the zone.”
She had all the bases covered Thursday as Shepard beat Bremen 18-2 in a South Suburban Conference crossover game in Palos Heights.
Solorio produced four hits to lead the offensive parade for the Astros (9-8, 7-2 SSC Red) and struck out six over four innings for the pitching win. Haley Misialek chipped in with four hits, while Meghan Potenza and Juliann Radz each had three hits and Izzie Belsky contributed five RBIs.
Gianna Vega recorded an RBI single for Bremen (4-14, 2-12 SSC Blue).
Solorio’s numbers, meanwhile, are solid this spring. As a pitcher, she has seven wins, striking out 55 in 71 innings. At the plate, she’s hitting .352 with 10 runs, 17 singles, two doubles and 10 RBIs.
Patience has paid off.
This is Solorio’s only varsity season. As a junior, she would have been the No. 2 pitcher behind record-setting senior right-hander Kailey Selvage, a DePaul recruit.
Shepard coach Bridget McDermott, who was a record-setting pitcher herself during her career for the Astros, told Solorio what she felt was the best solution.
“I said that we wanted her to pitch as much as possible and have the most amount of innings possible,” McDermott said. “I told her she was going to stay down and lead the JV squad.
“She handled it with so much poise. She was like, ‘OK, coach. No problem at all.’ And it really helped her to be ready for this season.”
You can call Solorio a “big picture” kid.
“When I first heard I was staying on JV, I was not disappointed,” she said. “I was actually still happy because I was going to be the leader on JV. I kept a positive mindset.
“I just told myself, ‘Don’t give up. Don’t be disappointed with choices.’ I didn’t give up and had a good year. It was good practice for varsity.”
Potenza, for one, wasn’t surprised.
“We knew each other since freshman year when we played volleyball together,” Potenza said. “Last season, when the JV practiced with the varsity, we would talk a lot.
“Anamarie is always fun to be around. She has a really great attitude.”
Pitching-wise, she has a lot of options. And a rhythm of her own.
“She’s super funky,” McDermott said, smiling. “She’s not super quick, but she can bring it. And her pitches have weird spins and fall off the table.”
And that’s not all that’s funky.
“My pitching stance is really weird,” Solorio said, smiling. “Some pitchers land on one foot. But I land on one foot and then the other one. My dad told me to do that so I would be ready to help on defense.”
Solorio’s defense was textbook perfect against Bremen. The Braves had two on in the top of the first inning when she snagged a bouncer to her right and made the throw to first to end the threat.
Just another senior moment in a season that’s been full of them.
“This means a lot to me,” Solorio said. “This sport has been a part of my whole life. I want to show others that it’s fun to play softball. You build memories like these and it can get you far.”
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
