Prep softball player of the year: Chelsea Crosby

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, June 3, 1999 | 11:47 a.m.

After her Wooster Colts lost nine games by an identical 1-0 score in 1998, Chelsea Crosby vowed her sophomore season would have a different theme.

So the Wooster ace spent hour upon hour during the summer and winter working not only on her pitching, but also on her offensive game in hopes that she might be able to help herself.

Looking back on the 1999 prep softball season, that strategy certainly seems to have paid off. In addition to being the state's most consistent pitcher this spring, Crosby went from a player who rarely hit for herself as a freshman to her club's leading run producer this year.

Most impressively, Crosby's improvement spearheaded the Colts' ascension to the position of state softball power. After more than a decade without a state berth, Wooster got there the best possible way this season, with a 4A Northern Zone title in hand.

And while the year ultimately ended slightly prematurely for the Colts, for Crosby the season ends with an honor -- the 1999 Sun State Softball Player of the Year award.

Crosby's pitching stats speak for themselves: a 20-6 record, 0.55 ERA, 206 strikeouts and just 12 unintentional walks in 166 innings. But it's her offensive successes -- a .321 batting average, four home runs and a team-best 31 RBIs -- that add up to her being the state's most complete ballplayer.

"I knew she could hit, and we needed her bat in the lineup," Wooster coach Dick Allen said. "And we would up scoring a lot more runs than we did last year."

Crosby's pitching improvement also was noticeable, as the sophomore right-hander upped her velocity to the mid-60s thanks to time spent in the weight room.

"My practice paid off," Crosby said. "All of us really wanted to win this year, and that made me work harder during the off-season."

Added Reed coach Ray Charles, whose club dropped four of five games to the Colts: "I don't think there are too many more competitive kids out there. She's very composed and she won't give in."

With two more years remaining, Crosby is likely to have all of Nevada's prep coaches singing similar praises in the seasons to come. And with a state softball title still a dream unrealized, the off-season is set to be another busy one for the hard-working 16-year-old.

"We went a lot farther than people thought we would this year," Crosby said. "But we want to be state champions."