By Matt Liebowitz<\/p>\n
Jordan Strum\u2019s fastball makes a mark\u2014on the opposing lineup, who one after another leave the box dejected, bat in hand; on the catcher\u2019s glove, which it hits with a satisfying and resonant smack; and on her coaches and teammates, who show the confidence of playing behind such a force on the mound.<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s fastball, most of all, makes a mark on Jordan. Her arsenal of pitches, which also includes a change-up, drop curve, screwball, and \u201criseball,\u201d is, in a way, Jordan\u2019s armor on the softball field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been really good with [handling] attention,\u201d said Jordan, a junior at Williston, who as an example, said public speaking is something she \u201cdoesn\u2019t do.\u201d On the mound for varsity softball, however, Jordan, 16, is a ball of energy and confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always zoned in when I\u2019m [pitching]; I\u2019m not thinking about anything else,\u201d said Jordan, whose fastball reaches into the upper 50s. \u201cIt\u2019s the same for hitting. When [my] team\u2019s cheering for me I can\u2019t hear them, I\u2019m so focused on them and ball and the pitcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
The focus has paid off; last year, with Jordan on the mound, the Wildcats won the Class A League\u00a0 Championship against longtime rival Westminster. Jordan shared co-MVP with Delaney Belinskas, \u201916.<\/p>\n
Jordan credited her coaches, Davey, Rodgers, Marsland, for their support and instilling in her a strong sense of confidence. She\u2019s grateful to have eight girls out there with her who have her back. That camaraderie, Jordan said, has translated to her life off the field as well, and made her more poised and self-assured.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like when people tell me what I can or can\u2019t do,\u201d said Jordan about the power she feels while pitching. \u201cI like to take control of my own life.”<\/p>\n
It\u2019s crucial to note here just exactly how powerful and persistent a pitcher Jordan is. We know her team rallies behind her, but how often they do is almost unbelievable. For a sport so indebted to statistics, here\u2019s one that stands out: In her time on the Williston softball team, Jordan\u2014until last Saturday, April 15\u2014had pitched every single inning of every single game. That\u2019s two years and counting where Jordan has been the only Williston pitcher on the mound, ever.<\/p>\n
The girl who broke her streak? Her younger sister, freshman Jersey, who threw two innings during Williston\u2019s commanding shutout over Berkshire School.<\/p>\n
Jordan loves her sister, but did not love watching the action from shortstop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the first time since I\u2019ve been here that I\u2019ve ever watched a pitch happen,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cI didn\u2019t like it. I like being able to control what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s skill, and her ability to so deftly control a game from the pitcher\u2019s mound, took root early on in her original hometown of Raytown, MO, a Kansas City suburb. It was there, as a five-year-old, she began playing tee-ball, then moved up to coach pitch and then regular softball. Jordan had no interest in pitching. But when the coach, who also happened to be her mom, Jocelyn, put out the call, nobody responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe asked multiple times, and nobody ever volunteered,\u201d Jordan recalled. \u201cMy mom being the coach\u2014I got stuck, and I just fell in love with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her mom, maiden name Johnson, is a 1991 Williston graduate. Known on campus as \u201cSis Jocelyn,\u201d she played softball and hockey. Jordan\u2019s parents recently moved to Somersworth, NH, and attend many of her games.<\/p>\n
With the help of a pitching coach, Jordan\u2019s strength and skill grew. She was soon playing on a travel team, the Kansas City Zephyrs. Her reliability and resilience as a pitcher has its roots here, where, Jordan said, she\u2019d pitch three games in a row without tiring. As opposed to baseball, which takes a toll on the rotator cuff, throwing a softball underhand is a much more natural motion and requires significantly less recovery time.<\/p>\n
Jordan began focusing on her mental acuity as well. \u201cI used to let the smallest things get to me,\u201d she said. \u201cI was very emotional.\u201d From age 10 to 13, she said her \u201cmain focus was not letting my emotions show.\u201d A lesson she took from the years of inner, emotional practice: \u201cLook confident anyway and it\u2019ll intimidate the batters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
If her confidence on the mound came from a fake-it-\u2018til-you-make-it approach, it\u2019s an attitude that\u2019s seeped into Jordan\u2019s everyday life. She might not feel comfortable as the center of attention, but her pitching prowess has put here there, and she is handling it with determination and resolve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bring to the mound the mindset that I\u2019m only thinking of the next pitch,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t start thinking about the next inning. I control what I can now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Matt Liebowitz Jordan Strum\u2019s fastball makes a mark\u2014on the opposing lineup, who one after another leave the box dejected, bat in hand; on the catcher\u2019s glove, which it hits with a satisfying and resonant smack; and on her coaches and teammates, who show the confidence of playing behind such a force on the mound. … Continue reading Command Center: Jordan Strum\u2019s Pitching Power<\/span>