Date: Fri 31-May-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Illustration: I

Quick Words:

Samantha-Byrne-Feature

Full Text:

Samantha Byrne - Newtown's Underhanded Compliment

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

It was the bottom of the fourth and the bases were loaded in a 1-0 game in the

South-West Conference tournament and Samantha Byrne was smiling. The umpire

had just called a ball on a pitch that painted black on the outside corner and

Sam was smiling - not the bemused, frustrated, angry smile of someone willing

to bounce the next pitch off the ump's mask, but the smile of someone who

simply thought that was the funniest thing she had ever heard.

A lot of pitchers would have been sweating.

Sam was just having fun.

Two years ago she would have been sweating, but her two-year transformation

from a visibly intense freshman pitcher to a junior pitcher more at ease and

more comfortable with her place in the softball firmament has turned Sam Byrne

from a good pitcher into a very good pitcher.

Some would even say great.

" It is supposed to be fun, " she said. " I remember the (first) Brookfield

game . . . I wasn't relaxed. The first couple of innings I was really nervous.

I didn't try to have fun. I tried to work too hard. Ever since then, I tried

to have more fun. If I laugh at things, then it makes me more relaxed. It's

easier to do better that way. "

Coach Bob Zito agreed.

" Every pitch is not a life or death situation with her anymore, " he said. "

She has learned to relax a lot more. She goes into the game with a great

attitude and that's just her way of handling the pressure. Her head is into

the game 100% of the time. "

Doing Much Better

When Sam Byrne first stepped onto the softball field as a freshman, it was a

godsend for coach Zito. The Lady Indians had not had a top flight pitcher

since the days of April Ertl and senior Alison Bernstein, who did the pitching

the year before, better served her team by playing in the field.

" I got excited about coaching softball again, " said coach Zito, " when I saw

Samantha Byrne throw for the first time. "

For Sam, though, the step up from youth softball provided more than the simple

challenge of facing better hitters.

It provided a fair amount of pressure, too.

Hence, the very visible intensity . . . the concentration . . . the focus on

thinking of all the little things that needed to be done just to get the pitch

off and out over the plate.

It was a challenge Sam was well fitted for. She started her pitching career

back in the fifth grade, in California, and quickly honed her style through

early lessons. When the Byrne family moved to Newtown soon after, Sam

sharpened her skills through a few years of youth softball and was excited

about moving up to the high school, yearning for a higher level of

competition. The Lady Indians needed her, too, and all Sam did was go 14-6

with a 2.39 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 134  innings of work. Opponents batted

less than .225 off her all season and the Lady Indians were back in the CIAC

state tournament after a four-year absence.

All she did a year later was go 12-9 with a 2.04 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 151

innings of work. She put in 17 extra innings than the year before, but allowed

fewer hits, fewer earned runs, fewer walks, and fanned 60 more batters. That

year, opponents batted slightly better than .200 against the Newtown pitcher.

And all that time she was working on speed and location and a growing

knowledge of hitters and hitting tendencies. When she stepped on the field as

a junior she had a few more weapons in her pitching arsenal and a lot more

guile in her approach.

" I learned a lot about the batters, " said Sam, " to think about what they

are expecting and to try and fool them. With each batter it's a different

little game, trying to figure out what they think I'm going to do and then do

something different. I try and keep them clueless. "

She does that with the help of her batterymate, Erica Christopher. Christopher

is in her sophomore year, but - especially with her summer work - plays like a

veteran. Together, the pair do more than pitch to batters - they try and bend

the batters to their will.

" Occasionally we'll talk between innings, " said coach Zito, " discussing who

is coming up and what we should be doing, but Sam and Erica know the game

better than anyone else and have a pretty good grasp of how to set the hitters

up. I let them go. "

Guile like that, coupled with the drop pitches, curves, screwballs, risers and

changeups that she can throw at any moment, has turned Sam into one of the top

two or three pitchers in the South-West Conference . . . depending on where

your sympathies lie with respect to Melanie Kasack of Bethel and Dina Masotto

of Pomperaug.

Throw her offense into the mix (a .429 average and 17 RBI) and she just may be

the best pitcher in the league - reasoning which led to her being named to the

All-SWC first team.

" Last year and freshman year I didn't really throw curves and stuff, " Sam

said. " I didn't learn much about those things until this year and it just

goes with the experience I've gotten over the last few years. Last year it was

good if I got five strikeouts, but this year it's . . . only five? "

In Sam's freshman year, she averaged 5.75 strikeouts per game. That climbed to

7.88 in her sophomore year and jumped to 9.75 this year. Sam was 9-9 with a

2.27 ERA, allowed 104 hits and 38 earned runs while walking 40 and striking

out 163 in 117 innings of work.

Sam likes the K, but does not thrive on the K. Down 2-1 or 3-1 in the count,

she looks not for the strikeout but for a weak grounder or can o' corn popup

to the infield.

It's a new attitude and a new confidence that she can make the hitters do what

she wants.

" I have a lot more confidence this year than I did last year, " Sam admitted,

" but sometimes when we play good teams I'd get really nervous . . . like the

second game against Brookfield I was thinking they had hit me really well the

first time. "

Usually, though, she chills. Brookfield might have hit her well this year, but

very few teams have in her career. Through the first three years of her life

at Newtown High, she is 35-24 with a 2.23 ERA in 402Πinnings of work. She has

allowed 345 hits (opponents batting just .210 against her) while walking 148

and striking out 443 (a career average of 7.71 per game).

Her 443 strikeouts puts her just 68 shy of breaking Kim DeCarlo's school

record of 511 . . . set during a four-year run (1981-84) when the Lady Indians

went 12-7, 15-5, 14-5 and 18-3 and earned one Western Connecticut Conference

championship and had a shot at winning two others.

Sam began thinking a bit about DeCarlo's record once it was printed in a

Newtown Bee sports supplement in 1995, and last week Sam admitted, " It would

be nice to have that record. I think I can beat that, but it depends on how

much pitching time I get with my sister (Cathy) coming up. "

That, as they say, is another story waiting to be told.

Sam wouldn't mind if her sister pitched more so she could play more in the

outfield. Playing in the outfield, Sam feels like she might do even better at

the plate.

Which is something for Newtown opponents to think about.

Sam batted .426 this year (up from .323 and .316 as a sophomore), with 29

hits, 20 runs scored, four doubles, a triple and 17 RBI. Her average, runs

scored, hits, doubles and RBI totals are all career highs.

" It will be real nice to have someone like her sister around to give Sam a

break (on the mound) because, " said coach Zito, " even with her bat, Sam is a

very valuable part of this team. "