More often than not, junior shortstop Mei Shirokawa is the instigator for Burlington Central.
An outstanding leadoff hitter with a .516 on-base percentage, Shirokawa puts her match to the Rockets’ fuse. The Central Michigan commit also excels defensively at an all-important position.
But even on the occasional rare day where the hits are in short supply at the plate, Shirokawa knows it’s best to just hit the reset button and try to start anew.
“It was one of those days,” Shirokawa said. “I had to forget about my at-bats and move on. You know, those earlier ones weren’t my favorite, but I learned from them and changed my last at-bat.
“That next at-bat could be the one where I start a hit rally.”
And, surprise, surprise, that’s exactly what happened Tuesday when Shirokawa lined a single to center field, stole second base and scored in the bottom of the eighth inning in a 7-6 Fox Valley Conference win over visiting Hampshire.
Shirokawa, who had flown out twice to right, walked and struck out, came up with two outs and nobody on and then scored on an RBI single by junior second baseman Kelsey Covey as Burlington Central (10-12-1, 7-6) avenged an earlier 11-10 loss to the Whip-Purs.
Senior first baseman Mia Robinson threatened to hit for the cycle with two singles, a double and a triple for Hampshire (15-6, 10-3), which received two RBIs apiece from junior right fielder Sadie Van Horn and senior second baseman Allison LeBlanc.
Sophomore pitcher Rebecca Coffey went the distance for Hampshire, which committed six errors. Sophomore Sophia Koertgen earned the win for the Rockets with seven innings of relief.
“I was expecting (Coffey) to go outside,” Shirokawa said of her final at-bat. “I knew I had missed that one for a strikeout the previous at-bat and I missed pretty good. She threw it exactly there.”
The stolen base was the 15th of the season for Shirokawa. It also was a second walk-off hit of Covey’s career.
“My freshman year, I had a game-winning bunt actually,” Covey said. “I hadn’t had one since.”
Shirokawa, meanwhile, was a demon on defense, recording four assists on routine-to-difficult grounders and an acrobatic layout for a diving catch of a line drive.
In the sixth, she played a part in the defensive play of the game on one of Robinson’s singles headed to the left-center gap.
Junior left fielder Mia Lindquist cut it off and threw to Shirokawa, who spun and fired home to Gianna Miceli. The sophomore catcher tagged out LeBlanc trying to score from second.
“I know I made a low throw, so I’m really glad ‘G’ made that tag on the girl,” Shirokawa said of Miceli. “I had a perfect throw from Mia.”
Covey and Shirokawa have often been paired in the middle of the infield since both made varsity as freshmen.
“I love having her out there,” said Covey, who moves to short when Shirokawa occasionally catches. “She’s very energetic, positive all the time. It’s been fun.”
First-year Burlington Central coach Jason Edwards, who has coached junior varsity teams at Montini and Kaneland as well as travel teams, marvels at Shirokawa on defense and offense.
“She makes plays I’ve never seen in my eight years of coaching,” Edwards said. “She’s gifted, making plays left and right where you turn your head and say, ‘How did that even happen?’
“It’s great.”
At the plate, Shirokawa has a .468 batting average with 37 hits this season, having already topped 100 hits for her career.
“She’s one of the most impressive players I’ve had the privilege to coach,” Edwards said. “It goes back to her work ethic. She takes it so seriously and it rubs off on the rest of these kids, too.”
