Quality starts become routine for pitcher

Quality starts become routine for pitcher

By Tony McDaniel

Salukis’ softball pitching staff may have a new ace up their sleeve.

Junior pitcher Katie Bertelsen has been a solid starter in the circle for the Salukis this season. In 16 starts, Katie Bertelsen is 8-5 with a 3.46 ERA, but Bertelsen’s best performances of the season have come in her last four starts for the Dawgs.

From March 15 to March 26, Bertelsen allowed just five runs in 27.2 innings of work, while striking out nine batters in the process.

Advertisement

Bertelsen says her pitches are working well for her.

“My drop ball has been doing really well,” she said. “I developed a back door curve, and that’s been working right now, too.”

A large part of Bertelsen’s success could be attributed to her being healthy for the first time in a while. Bertelsen had a knee scope Jan. 11 of last year, which hindered her ability to pitch.

Coach Kerri Blaylock said having Bertelsen healthy is not only good for the team, but Bertelsen herself.

“I don’t think she’s liked that she hadn’t been healthy until this year and it was frustrating for her,” Blaylock said. “I think you’re seeing the benefits of her being healthy and her working so hard to develop a full compliment of pitches.”

Another aspect of Bertelsen’s game which makes her so good is how quickly she works in the circle. Bertelsen does not take much time in between pitches, which keeps the defense on its toes behind her and the hitter at the plate off-balance.

Senior catcher Allie VadeBoncouer said she loves playing with Bertelsen because of her pace of play while pitching.

Advertisement*

“She gets the ball, she throws and I never have to wait around very long,” VadeBoncouer said. “When it takes a long time for someone to throw, it kind of gets exhausting.

VadeBoncouer said she rarely walks out to the mound to calm Bertelsen down, but when she does, soothing Bertelsen is simple.

“Making her laugh is something that I think calms her down,” VadeBoncouer said. “When things get kind of riled up or some errors are made, I go out and make a joke and she laughs. That’s the best way to calm her down.”

Bertelsen is 3-4 in her last seven games, but in the two of those losses, Bertelsen may have pitched her best games of the season.

In the loss against University of Northern Iowa, Bertelsen matched the Panthers’ ace Jamie Fisher for 10 innings before allowing a run in the top of the 10th inning to give UNI the 4-3 win.

Bertelsen started for the Salukis in a match against the Saint Louis University Billikens on March 26, in which she was handed a tough 1-0 loss when SLU pitcher Brianna Lore threw a no-hitter against SIU.

Bertelsen said while the losses were upsetting, they did not get her down.

“It’s frustrating, but you’ve just got to take it and go to the next game,” she said. “You’ve just got to take it and go to the next game. You can’t dwell on it.”

Pitching with dominance is something that is not new to Bertelsen. While playing for United High School in Alexis, Bertelsen set Illinois state records with 1,619 strikeouts and 79 shutouts. Bertelsen is also tied for wins in the state of Illinois with 73.

Bertelsen said while the records are nice, it is not something she thinks about.

“Playing at United was fun. Getting to play Taylor [Orsburn] three years at state was fun,” she said. “I don’t really look at [the records] right now, but in the future I will. It was a good experience to go to state and get all those records; it was the time of my life. Now I just want to start something new here at Southern.”

The Saluki softball team could make a run for the Missouri Valley Conference title. VadeBoncouer said if Bertelsen can continue to pitch well, the team could rally around her.

“I think having her as a dominant force on the mound is something that we’ve needed,” she said. “She’s finally stepped into that role. We know if we need to go to her, we have her. That’s something that will make us contenders in the MVC.”

Advertisement