By SCOTT JACKSON, Courier sports writer
August 05, 2006 12:25 am
—
FORT DODGE — Jen McDonald was frustrated Thursday at the state softball tournament.
The slugging senior stepped up to the plate four times in Albia’s consolation semifinal round contest against New Hampton with a bat in her hand and the need to swing it.
That proved to be a scary proposition for the Chickasaws, who saw McDonald lace a ball into the outfield for a long single. McDonald wouldn’t get another good pitch to hit again. For McDonald, that’s frustrating.
“I wanted to hit,” she said.
Hitting is something McDonald has become very good at doing over the past few years. Following a breakout junior season in which the right fielder clobbered 60 hits, second all-time in Albia single-season history and earned a first-team Class 2A all-state selection, McDonald has kept right on slugging away.
Fifty-seven more hits; five homers, 13 doubles, seven triples, 99 total bases, 44 RBI, 37 runs, a .419 hitting percentage and a .728 slugging percentage. All Albia team highs, all numbers fit for another all-state honor and the big reasons why McDonald is the Courier Softball Player of the Year.
“Practice. I practice my hitting all the time,” McDonald said when asked about the secret of her successfully powerful swing. “Besides the hours we spend practicing as a team, I’m always in my backyard working with my dad). We’ve got a pitching machine set up and he always sets it to a number of different styles. Dad’s always making sure I’m prepared when I get to the plate.”
“Jen’s going to be missed simply for the incredible work ethic she always brings to the field,” Albia head coach Larry Achenbach said. “She’s been working hard at getting better since she started in Little League. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to all the coaches and her family, they made sure she always focused on becoming a better player and great teammate.”
McDonald used team success as a driving factor to lead Albia to their fifth place finish at the Class 3A state tournament. Along the postseason road, the Lady Dees had to survive four one-run games and picked up three wins in their last at-bat.
Despite all the tense moments, McDonald knew the reward for coming through would be giving the younger Albia players a chance to experience the atmosphere surrounding the state softball tournament. As a sophomore, McDonald got to experience that feeling when an upperclass-laden Albia squad finished fourth at Fort Dodge in the 2A tournament.
“I just remember it being such an amazing atmosphere when we first got into Harlan Rogers Park. All the fans and all the surroundings, it was great to be a part of,” McDonald said. “I wanted our young players to be a part of that this season. It’s something that will always stick with them.”
“We‚ve always stressed team success and I think Jen really takes that to heart,” Achenbach added. “She doesn‚t go up to the plate worrying about padding any statistics. She goes up there trying to help all us win.”
Standing next to some of some of the biggest sluggers in the state, McDonald wouldn’t appear to be someone that could match power numbers. In a way, McDonald is somewhat similar to former teammate and long time neighbor Ashley Lepley, who also put up incredible power numbers at the plate and in the pitching circle by outworking and overpowering opponents.
McDonald’s similar success to Lepley is no surprise. After all, when she wasn’t working in the back yard with her dad, next door neighbor Lepley would stop by for a practice session or two with McDonald.
“She‚d come over and sometimes would even throw some pitches to me,” McDonald said. “Ashley always had a lot of great advice for me. She was someone I really look up to as a mentor. She was a great player to learn from in the few years we played on the varsity squad together.”
It’s fitting that, like Lepley, McDonald will take her all-state power to Ottumwa to become a part of the Indian Hills softball squad. McDonald will hope to duplicate Lepley’s intercollegiate success at IHCC, following in the footsteps of a two-time all-Region XI selection for the Warriors.
As she had capped a stellar career at Albia by leading the Lady Dees to state, McDonald got perhaps her greatest honor from her former teammate and neighbor this past summer.
“Ashley just told she thought I was doing a great job leading the team,” McDonald said. “That’s one of the greatest compliments I could receive.”
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.