Deception best part of Vela's repertoire
| Saturday, Jun 27 2009 10:53 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Jun 27 2009 11:18 PM
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Henry A. Barrios / The Californian All Area, Justine Vela, Stockdale High softball pitcher.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian All area, Justine Vela, Stockdale High softball pitcher.
Ask Justine Vela which pitch she should throw, and the sophomore sensation for Stockdale rarely slips up.
Ask her how she got to where she is now in just one short year, however, and she's stumped.
"There's so many good words to explain it," Vela said. "I don't know. It's still settling in to this day how good of a season it really was. It was amazing, and I don't know, it was crazy. I don't know. It's awesome."
Vela, with her first extended playing time in high school, has earned Calfornian Softball Player of the Year honors. She was 19-5 with a county-leading 0.27 ERA and 241 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 155 innings pitched.
She threw 12 shutouts and took a young, unheralded Stockdale team to the brink of a Central Section Division I championship.
"I'm absolutely amazed with what she's done as a sophomore," first-year Stockdale coach Amanda Hockett said. "I don't think any pitcher in Bakersfield has come through at any high school as a sophomore and had the success she has."
As a freshman, though, Vela was unknown. She played in just six games for Stockdale, limited by a broken finger and by Mustangs pitcher Mackenzie Oakes, who was the 2007 Player of the Year and now plays for Fresno State.
"I didn't get much playing time, but I knew this season I was going to be the starting pitcher," Vela said. "I spent the whole offseason working really hard. I wanted to show people I could do it."
The secret to Vela's success lies in the movement in her pitches, Hockett said. She has half a dozen that all move like they're weighted on whichever side Vela chooses.
"It's either something they chase away, or it moves up or down or breaks inside," Hockett said. "She has so many weapons ... and the ball will break eight to 10 inches. That's really getting out there."
Vela contends her best pitch is her curveball, but she can't explain its wicked break.
"I think it's natural," she said. "I mean, I really work hard at it, but that's one of my natural pitches."
Vela is so deceptive that Hockett decided not to pitch her in a tournament game against defending section champion Centennial in Santa Maria, instead saving her for the schools' league matchup a week later.
The result was an 11-strikeout, three-hit shutout of the Golden Hawks in a 4-0 victory. That sparked Stockdale to an eventual SWYL championship (along with a 3-2 victory against Centennial later).
"I just went into the (first Centennial league) game trying not to psych myself out," Vela said. "I went in with confidence, knowing that if I hit my spots I would be fine."
That started a tear for Vela that didn't end until well into the section playoffs. She didn't allow an earned run in 14 consecutive games -- until allowing one in a 5-3 loss to Clovis-Buchanan in the section final -- and didn't allow more than four hits in 13 of those games.
That included a no-hitter in the section quarterfinals against Clovis West and a four-hit shutout of Fresno-Bullard in the semifinals. On the heels of those performances, Hockett said, Vela has offers from multiple club teams ranked in the nation's top 10 who'd like to showcase her expanding talents.
"She can be a great player," Hockett said. "She can probably have her choice on where to go (for college) and get a scholarship when that time comes. She definitely has endless possibilities."
