Bator steps in for Wooster, wins player of year honors

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, June 1, 2000 | 9:57 a.m.

When pitcher Chelsea Crosby broke a finger before Wooster's first softball game this spring, her team easily could have gone into panic mode.

After all, Crosby was coming off a season in which she went 20-6 with a 0.55 ERA and earned the Sun's 1999 State Player of the Year award.

Instead, Wooster calmly turned to junior Jenne Bator, who led the Colts to opening-week conference wins over Galena, Carson and Reed -- three teams expected to be Wooster's top competition for the 4A state title.

From start to finish, Bator was the anchor of Wooster's remarkable 2000 campaign, a season that saw the Colts breeze to a 24-0 conference record en route to a 41-2 overall mark and the school's second state title.

On the mound, where she went 14-0 with an 0.21 ERA, and at the plate, where she hit .424 and helped jump-start the Wooster offense, Bator -- the Sun's 2000 State Player of the Year -- did it all for the Colts.

"I knew she would have a good season, but she far exceeded my expectations," Wooster coach Dick Allen said. "She was our most consistent player."

Bator's emergence as a prime-time player dates to her sophomore year. Though Crosby handled the bulk of the innings during the regular season, the Northern Zone Tournament's double-elimination format allowed Bator to pitch the title game against Reed. She didn't disappoint, posting a 4-0 shutout over the then-defending state champs.

"That's when I got confident and knew I could really throw against the best teams," Bator said.

Armed with a deadly changeup that complemented the blazing fastballs of Crosby and Brianne McGowan, Bator worked hard during the offseason to make sure she would get her share of work on a staff that featured three of the state's top pitchers.

"Having the competition pushed us to work harder," Bator said. "And during the season, if one pitcher did really well in a game, then the next one wanted to do even better."

All three Wooster hurlers finished the 2000 season with outstanding numbers, Bator's perhaps the most impressive. In 99 innings, she allowed only three earned runs and 27 hits, striking out 134 of the 304 batters she faced and walking 25.

Bator also improved dramatically at the plate, after giving up switch-hitting to bat exclusively from the left side. She led the Colts with a .424 average, striking out just six times in 148 at-bats. Bator wound up second on her team in runs with 51 and had 35 RBIs.