Sisk's time has come

By: BECKY FREEMAN - Staff Writer | Thursday, June 21, 2007 12:38 AM PDT ∞

MURRIETA -- June 6, 2007 marked a special day for Murrieta Valley senior Lindsey Sisk.

Most Southern California TV sets were tuned in to Honda Center where the Ducks beat the Ottawa Senators in Game 5 to win the Stanley Cup. But not in the Sisk house, where live coverage of the NCAA Division I College Softball World Series in Oklahoma City was streaming into the family's Murrieta living room.

Arizona won, beating Tennessee 5-0 for its second straight NCAA title.

Sisk will join the eight-time national champions in Tucson next fall. Watching the title game gave her a sneak peek at her future, where she could be a part of the celebration.

All that may come after Sisk's final season for the Nighthawks, which started with an injury and ended with a few valuable lessons. In the process, Sisk, this spring's All-Valley Softball Player of the Year, got it done in the circle -- finishing with a 13-4 record, a 0.49 ERA and 281 strikeouts over 157 2/3 innings.

Sisk's entrance into her last high school softball season was not marked by an injury to her pitching arm, which she suffered in November while weightlifting. On March 6, Sisk struck out 19 batters in an 8-0 complete-game victory over Dana Hills. But a week later, she lasted only 2 2/3 innings against Vista Murrieta, giving up five runs in a 10-4 loss.

That would be indicative of the first month of Sisk's then questionable season, which, once she began treating her injury, ended on an upswing. The pain was initially diagnosed as a shoulder impingement in her pitching arm -- which is caused by pressure on the rotator cuff from part of the shoulder blade as the arm is lifted -- and in late March, she began therapy at Postural Solutions, located at the Rancho Sports Center in Temecula.

The treatments consisted of a daily, personalized menu of stretches and exercises that not only eliminated the soreness in her shoulder initially, but also made her stronger over time. During the season, the power behind Sisk's deceptive pitches only increased.

Last spring, Sisk's speed topped out at a blistering 65-66 mph. After the injury and ensuing treatment, Sisk was better and faster than ever -- with her riseball hitting speeds of 67-68 mph.

Just for comparison's sake, most collegiate pitchers throw about 65-66 mph, with the elite hitting the high 60s consistently. Former Arizona pitcher and Olympian Jennie Finch topped out at 71 mph -- the equivalent of a 100-mph fastball in baseball.

"It was challenging to overcome it," Sisk said of her injury. "It was frustrating to have to take three weeks off to rest and, at the beginning of the season, to not be at my best. But I fought through it and kept doing my excercises.

"Before, every time after I pitched I would wake up the next day and be sore," Sisk said. "But, all of a sudden, right after I started doing the exercises, the next day (after pitching) I wasn't sore and I haven't been sore since."

The reward was more than physical.

"Lindsey talked about how she has faced adversity and the one last thing she needed to face and learn how to deal with before college was how to get through injury," Murrieta coach Ann Romero-Parks said. "Now she's prepared for anything that might happen. ... Going from high school to being a college pitcher is a hard transition for many athletes, and I think everything that happened this year will help her with that transition."

It's on to Tucson now for Sisk, who traveled with the junior national team to Puerto Rico last fall, where the team was undefeated at the Junior Pan American Games.

"I'm really excited just to go and play softball," Sisk said. "I don't feel any pressure, I just have to go and do my best."

Arizona is just as ready for her arrival.

"The biggest thing with Lindsey was how athletic she is," Arizona coach Mike Candrea said of why Sisk caught his attention. "She is skillful on the mound, and she's got good velocity, and her movement is great, which is important at this level."

The question will be whether she is ready for college ball. Candrea, who will be taking the 2008 season off at Arizona to coach the U.S. National Team into its swan song Olympics in Bejing -- softball will no longer be an Olympic sport following next summer -- says much of that will depend on her ability to deal with failure.

"As a freshman going from high school and travel ball to college, there is always a transition period, the pitchers are better and the hitters are better, so there is more failure right away," Candrea said. "The big thing is to see how they deal with failure. Hopefully, Lindsey can step in right away and give us some help on the mound and we'll see how she performs."

If Sisk's senior season is any indication, she's primed to make the leap from the living room to the diamond.

-- Staff writer Becky Freeman can be reached at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2630 or bfreeman@californian.com.

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