Marissa Leaf is no card shark, but she could be emerging as an ace in the hole for Waubonsie Valley coach Valerie Wood.
With more performances like this, Leaf could be the Warriors’ not-so-secret weapon.
“Last year, the coaches told me that I was right there on the line for being on varsity,” Leaf said of her freshman debut. “But I stayed on JV, working on my pitching and overall game.
“Looking back, I definitely think that was best. Obviously, I’ve gotten stronger and I can throw harder now. I’ve been working on different pitches and I’m just throwing more strikes this year.”
A pitcher/infielder, Leaf came through with a strong outing Monday afternoon in the circle, scattering five hits in an 11-4 DuPage Valley Conference win over visiting Metea Valley in Aurora.
The sophomore right-hander struck out 10 and walked just one as the Warriors (13-10, 6-5) stopped the Mustangs (5-20, 1-12) for the second time in 18 days.
Leaf (4-2) threw a one-hitter in a 14-0 five-inning win at Metea and has solidified her position as the No. 2 starter behind ace Molly Quinn, a 6-foot left-hander and fellow sophomore who had a strong freshman season on varsity.
Sophomore first baseman Samantha Hughes added three hits and three RBIs to lead a 12-hit attack for Waubonsie. Freshman catcher Avery Gage and junior second baseman Grace Riggs each had two hits. Gage chalked up two RBIs, while Riggs tripled.
“They were playing me really shallow,” Riggs said of her liner over the center fielder’s head to the fence on the triple. “If they’re playing me deeper, it wouldn’t have been as good of a hit.
“I kept on running.”
Wood started the spring knowing she had an up-and-coming ace in Quinn, but may be staring at two upcoming seasons with a pair of aces, especially if both continue to improve.
Leaf has struck out 45 in her 42 2/3 innings pitched.
“I think Marissa is accurate,” said Riggs, a third-year varsity player who was all-conference last season. “She’s not as fast as Molly but can do a lot when we need her.
“There’s been a lot of improvement.”
Leaf takes pitching lessons from Homer Glen-based Jonathan Hon and plays travel for Romeoville-based GenuWin Reign. She has pitched about a third of the Warriors’ innings and plays mostly shortstop and some third base when Quinn has pitched two-thirds of the innings.
In travel, Leaf also plays second base.
“I don’t think of myself as a pitcher or shortstop — I’m pretty much both,” said Leaf, who has played travel ball since she was 8 and always pitched and played middle infield.
Last season, Leaf was a “bubble kid,” according to Wood.
“We kept going back and forth, but we had more older pitching and infield depth,” Wood said. “I didn’t know if we were going to be able to get Marissa playing time on varsity.
“I didn’t want her to waste a season with us when she’d play all the time at JV.”
Leaf surprised Wood and assistant coach Chris Scott when practices for this season began.
“Marissa came back that first week and we were just like, ‘Who is this?’” Wood said. “She got taller and stronger and it wasn’t even a question that we were going to take her up to varsity.
“She’s throwing harder and her hitting looks better and she’s just more confident. She’s turned into quite a ballplayer, so I’m very excited about the future.”
The same is true for Waubonsie, which had just two seniors and two juniors in Monday’s starting lineup of 10 players to go with four sophomores and two freshmen.
“We’re doing much better than last year and the girls are more excited to be here,” Wood said. “We’re scoring more, they don’t get down on themselves and have a really nice short-term memory.”
