Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Spartanburg, S.C. – As a standout pitcher at USC Upstate, Morgan Childers dominated the competition nearly every time she stepped into the circle from the time she was a freshman through her senior season in 2011. In the midst of a strong senior year when she won 29 games, she was selected by the Akron Racers with the 14th overall pick of the 2011 NPF Draft this past March. On Sunday, she earned her first career victory, going 4 1/3 innings to earn the 3-2 win over the NPF Diamonds.

"About a month before the draft, Haley Sheehan's (rising senior at Upstate and a junior on the 2011 team) dad asked me if I was going to play pro softball," said Childers. "At the time, I had no idea I could play. I knew there was a pro league, but I figured I didn't have a chance to make it to that level. Then, Coach Hawkins told me that a couple of teams had called to ask about me and were interested in drafting me. I am so excited to have been given the opportunity to be a professional player. It has been a wonderful experience so far."

She opened her career going four innings in a 5-2 loss to the NPF Diamonds at home in Firestone Stadium in Akron,Ohio, on June 12. She was cruising along with the game tied at 0-0 in the fourth inning. Two bloop hits and a three-run homer later, Childers was welcomed to the professional ranks with the knowledge that she is now facing the nation's best, and arguably the world's finest, softball players. She didn't get the win in her first start, but she certainly gained the valuable experience needed to compete at the highest level.

She got the call in game four of the four-game series against the NPF Diamonds in Kissimmee, Fla. The Racers had already taken three-straight against the Diamonds and were looking for the series sweep. A week earlier, the Diamonds had taken three-of-four against the Racers in Ohio. Childers obviously learned from her first outing against the Diamonds. She was simply dominant in 4 1/3 innings of work. She struck out eight and allowed one run on one hit before being taken out in the fifth.

She struck out the side to open the game, fanning Kristin Schnake (Georgia), Aja Paculba (Florida) and Biannca Mejia (Long Island University) in the first. In the second, she got two fly outs to left field and a strikeout. She struck out two and got a ground out to first in the third inning as the game went into the fourth with a 0-0 tie.

In the top of the fourth, Kelley Montalvo (Alabama) scored from third on a wild pitch to give Akron a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the frame, Childers struck out Schnake and Mejia and got Paculba to fly out to centerfield. The Racers added a run in the top of the fifth inning on Sharonda McDonald's (Texas A&M) sacrifice fly, giving Akron and Childers a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Childers recorded an out to open the inning, then allowed a walk and a single before being taken out, replaced by Kristina Thorson (California). The next batter reached on an error by the second baseman with a runner scoring from second on the play. The run was charged to Childers, though with a double play ending the inning on the next batter, the run should be counted as unearned.

Akron held on for the 3-2 win and Childers earned her first professional victory. Not bad for a 5-5 kid out of central North Carolina who was passed over by most major colleges because of her size and the fact that she didn't throw as hard as Cat Osterman (USSSA Pride, Texas) or Monica Abbott (Chicago Bandits, Tennessee), now fellow professional pitchers in the NPF. But, with exceptional movement and location of her pitches, Childers has shown the ability to succeed early on in her professional career, continuing to build on a resume already filled with accomplishments.

"The first time we played them (the Diamonds), it was my first time pitching here and I was really nervous," said Childers. "I was super excited and I had kept them off guard, even though I had given up a few hits. In the fourth inning, they had runners on first and second and I got nervous. I don't know why, but I did. I started pitching not to lose instead of pitching to win. Last week, I concentrated on having the mentality that I was going to win. Plus, I learned to throw a drop ball and a new changeup. Both pitches worked in the game on Sunday and I was able to keep them off balance. I was determined to battle through it when I got people on base and ended up doing well."

Just two games into her career, Childers has already made her mark in the professional ranks. She is 1-1 heading into this weekend's four-game series with the Chicago Bandits at Firestone Stadium. The series will be a matchup of the two teams tied atop the NPF standings at 5-3. The Bandits enter the series with a two-game winning streak. Thanks to Childers' efforts on Sunday, the Racers enter with a league-best five-game winning streak.

Childers has struck out 12 batters in 8 1/3 innings, racking up the second-most strikeouts on the team in the third-most innings. She ranks fifth in the NPF and is the only pitcher with 12 or more strikeouts who has pitched less than 15 innings. Osterman leads the league with 30 in 18 innings of work.

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