Mindy TuckerFew pitchers can claim to have struck out a USA gold medalist. University of Tampa senior starter Devlin Dougherty just happens to be one of those few.
Third baseman Crystl Bustos, who was described as one of the most feared hitters in the game by the official Amateur Softball Association website, had no answer for Dougherty as she went down swinging. Playing on a team put together by one of her summer coaches, Dougherty squared off against the USA softball team on one of their tours to different regions of the country.
It was a true bright spot in her career.
“It was nerve-racking,” she said. “It was scary to pitch against that lineup from just 40 feet away.”
Nowadays, Dougherty pitches to rivals of the Sunshine State Conference for the Lady Spartans. She has a powerful fastball with a number of off-speed pitches including a curve ball, rising ball and her devastating change-up that drops away from hitters. She even throws in a screwball once and a while.
As for her team, they are coming off a year in which they went just 19-31. With another year of experience under their belt, the team hopes to become a better club. Dougherty takes it upon herself to provide leadership for the younger members.
“I look at it as [though] I patrol the infield, while Kelly [Glover] patrols the outfield. We’re the only two seniors on this team. It’s up to us to show the girls the ropes,” said Dougherty.
Tampa has gotten off to a slow start at the beginning of the 2007 campaign, going 1-5. But Dougherty likes what she sees from the young squad.
“So far, so good,” says Dougherty. “We’ve played all ranked teams and hung in there with them. We’re just 1-5, but we’re not upset. We’ve only had one game where we played real bad.”
Dougherty herself has gotten off to a good start. She earned Pitcher of the Week honors in the first week of the season, posting an impressive 0.56 ERA and holding batters to a .150 batting average. With such tough competition in the SSC, Dougherty recognizes the importance of the award.
“It feels great,” said Dougherty. “It was unexpected. There are a lot of tough pitchers in this conference. It was an honor.”
Dougherty threw two no-hitters last season, only the third and fourth times a University of Tampa pitcher has done that in the history of UT softball.
She also holds the school record for strikeouts in a game at 15, which she recorded against Winston-Salem State University last season.
Not simply a pitcher, Dougherty also plays first base and is a leading hitter on the team.
So whether it’s rival conference players or gold medalists, Dougherty is unlikely to back down from anyone.