jeffpatterson
03-15-2008, 05:55 PM
Gloucester's Coates driven to competitive edge
Gloucester softball ace Stephanie Coates rarely loses anything, thanks to a lethal combination of talent and desire.
By DAVE FAIRBANK | dfairbank@dailypress.com | 247-4637
GLOUCESTER — There is no documentation, no video proof — only the word of Ronald and Phyllis Coates and their daughters, Pam and Stephanie.
In the spirited family card games that take place at the dining-room table in the house on Creekwood Court, Stephanie, she of the golden right arm and mile-wide competitive streak, does not always win.
Peninsula District batters — “victims” might be a more accurate description — will find this hard to believe. But when the Coateses sit down to play Qwitch or Phase 10 or Hawaiian rummy (grass skirt optional), Stephanie sometimes loses. Honest.
Every dart doesn’t hit where she aims. She doesn’t always paint the lines in table tennis, either.
Put her on a softball field, though, and Stephanie Coates is money.
Coates is the centerpiece of Gloucester High’s defending Peninsula District champs and preseason favorites. The Dukes return seven starters from a team that went 21-3 and lost in the Eastern Region semifinals to Salem of Virginia Beach.
“We’ve had good pitchers in the past,” Gloucester coach Red Lindsay said. “All I’ve ever asked is: ‘Keep us in ball games and give us a chance to win.’ I’ve never asked for a Stephanie Coates.”
Coates, a lean, 5-foot-8½ senior bound for the University of Virginia next year, has put herself in the discussion of the best pitchers the area has produced.
Last year, she pitched every game for the Dukes. She struck out 312 batters in 157 2/3 innings, an average of two per inning and 13 per game. She posted a 0.75 ERA, and opponents batted a paltry .093 off of her. And just for kicks, she batted .388 at cleanup.
“Tremendous competitor,” Woodside coach Mike Tallon said. “I think that’s her biggest asset. She’s just incredibly competitive.”
Tallon has coached standout pitchers himself in Holly Miller and Micki Rodriguez. He has seen the area’s top players and pitchers for more than 30 years.
“I’d be hard-pressed to say she’s the best,” Tallon said, “but she’s in the top five of kids I’ve seen in this area. She has a decent assortment of pitches — her rise ball is her best pitch, by far — but I think, all in all, her competitive edge is what does it.”
Coates relishes having the ball in her hand, but is a reluctant star. She politely thanks folks for all the compliments and leaves the “best ever” debates to others.
“I set goals for myself,” Coates said, “but I never really quite envisioned things turning out the way they have.”
Coates’s formula for success is simple: “She works,” Lindsay said. “She works all summer long, she works all winter long.”
Coates often works out five days a week, for a full two hours at a time, and throws every other day. Even during the season, she will show up early or stay late for extra throwing sessions with catcher Lauren Kiser, Lindsay, or an assistant coach.
She grew up with her role model. Her 23-year-old sister Pam, five years older than Stephanie, played competitive softball as a youngster and eventually suited up for the Dukes.
Stephanie took to the game almost immediately. She couldn’t play competitive softball until age 8, but she was always in the back yard throwing with her older sister and her teammates and was around the game whenever possible.
“I always had the drive to be better than her,” Stephanie said. “She inspired me to be the best that I can be.”
Phyllis Coates remembers Stephanie as an intense competitor all the way back to tee ball. Instead of admiring the dandelions like many other kids, she zealously ran the bases and made plays in the field.
At age 10, she came to her parents and said she wanted to play on better teams than those in the local rec league. Her folks found a travel team for her.
Coates dabbled in soccer and gymnastics as a youngster. She even played JV hoops at Gloucester as a freshman. But softball was her love.
Coates first crossed Lindsay’s radar as a sixth grader, largely because he coached Pam. He saw potential, he said, “but I wasn’t aware of that inner drive right away. Once I saw that inner drive, I thought she had the chance to be something special.”
In three years, Coates is 65-7, with 820 strikeouts and a 0.53 ERA. She has walked a total of 75 batters in her entire high school career.
Coates hates giving up hits. Practice, game, friend or foe, doesn’t matter.
“She doesn’t like giving up hits in intrasquad games,” Lindsay said. “There are times when I’ve hit against her, and she hates giving up hits to me.”
In a six-inning, intrasquad simulated game recently, Lindsay said that only two balls were even hit hard against her, “and she was not happy. You could tell.”
Well, that’s the other thing about Coates. If you don’t know her, if you haven’t studied her, you can’t tell.
Her expression rarely changes when she’s on the mound. You wouldn’t know if she struck out the side or if she just gave up a two-run double.
“She doesn’t say much,” Lindsay said. “She just plays.”
If Coates is peeved, she might smack the ball into her glove one time. Then it’s back to work.
“I’m in the zone during games,” Coates said. “I try not to let my emotions get a hold of me. Emotion doesn’t usually help when you’re competing. I just try to concentrate pitch to pitch.”
Coates throws six different pitches — fastball, changeup, drop ball, rise ball, curve ball and screwball. Her fastball has topped out at 63 mph, the equivalent of a 90-plus mph fastball in baseball. Her screwball and curve have been clocked at 61 mph, so batters shouldn’t expect to see much of her fastball, with velocity like that on her movement pitches.
“She puts hitters on the defensive right away,” Tallon said. “She just doesn’t throw very many balls. If you don’t get her early, you’re not going to get her at all. If she’s ahead in the count, she’s probably going to stay ahead in the count. It’s five percent of the time that if she gets ahead of you that she loses the battle.”
Coates, who carries a 4.3 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, is as dedicated academically as she is on the softball field. Years ago, she set a goal of earning a college scholarship. She routinely bypassed social outings and Friday night trips to the movies for schoolwork.
She describes herself as a fairly boring person. She’s not on Facebook or MySpace or IM-ing on the computer. Free time usually is spent with family and a few friends.
“When I get home,” she said one recent afternoon following practice, “I eat and then do my homework. By that time, I’m tired. I want to go to bed.”
Coates committed to the Cavaliers under the previous coaching regime, but she committed to the school as much as to the softball program. She didn’t reconsider after new coach Eileen Schmidt and her staff took over last spring. Schmidt visited last summer to personally evaluate Coates and confirm her commitment before she signed a letter-of-intent for a full scholarship.
“A tremendous work ethic and a live arm,” Schmidt said. “She has a lot of movement, and she throws pretty hard. She’s tall and lanky, has long ‘levers,’ everything you’d want in a pitcher.”
The Cavaliers were 17-39 last year and 1-20 in the ACC, using four different starting pitchers. Under Schmidt, a 1994 U.Va. alum, Virginia is 7-15 following this weekend’s sweep at the hands of Florida State. The Cavaliers have used three starting pitchers who had as many walks as strikeouts and had allowed 5.2 runs per game.
“The combination of the live arm ... and that work ethic is just exactly what we need. We need a ‘one,’ Schmidt said, referring to a primary, No. 1 pitcher. “We need someone who can take 70-75 percent of the innings, and she physically can handle that.”
Coates is well aware that she needs to get stronger, that the adjustment from high school and travel ball to college won’t be easy. She knows that she isn’t likely to dominate in college ball as she has in high school, certainly not right away.
She will do what she always does: work at it.
“I want to play professionally,” Coates said of her long-range goals. “And if the
Olympics are a possibility, I want to make the Olympic team.”
Don’t bet against her. Unless she’s playing cards or darts.
Gloucester softball ace Stephanie Coates rarely loses anything, thanks to a lethal combination of talent and desire.
By DAVE FAIRBANK | dfairbank@dailypress.com | 247-4637
GLOUCESTER — There is no documentation, no video proof — only the word of Ronald and Phyllis Coates and their daughters, Pam and Stephanie.
In the spirited family card games that take place at the dining-room table in the house on Creekwood Court, Stephanie, she of the golden right arm and mile-wide competitive streak, does not always win.
Peninsula District batters — “victims” might be a more accurate description — will find this hard to believe. But when the Coateses sit down to play Qwitch or Phase 10 or Hawaiian rummy (grass skirt optional), Stephanie sometimes loses. Honest.
Every dart doesn’t hit where she aims. She doesn’t always paint the lines in table tennis, either.
Put her on a softball field, though, and Stephanie Coates is money.
Coates is the centerpiece of Gloucester High’s defending Peninsula District champs and preseason favorites. The Dukes return seven starters from a team that went 21-3 and lost in the Eastern Region semifinals to Salem of Virginia Beach.
“We’ve had good pitchers in the past,” Gloucester coach Red Lindsay said. “All I’ve ever asked is: ‘Keep us in ball games and give us a chance to win.’ I’ve never asked for a Stephanie Coates.”
Coates, a lean, 5-foot-8½ senior bound for the University of Virginia next year, has put herself in the discussion of the best pitchers the area has produced.
Last year, she pitched every game for the Dukes. She struck out 312 batters in 157 2/3 innings, an average of two per inning and 13 per game. She posted a 0.75 ERA, and opponents batted a paltry .093 off of her. And just for kicks, she batted .388 at cleanup.
“Tremendous competitor,” Woodside coach Mike Tallon said. “I think that’s her biggest asset. She’s just incredibly competitive.”
Tallon has coached standout pitchers himself in Holly Miller and Micki Rodriguez. He has seen the area’s top players and pitchers for more than 30 years.
“I’d be hard-pressed to say she’s the best,” Tallon said, “but she’s in the top five of kids I’ve seen in this area. She has a decent assortment of pitches — her rise ball is her best pitch, by far — but I think, all in all, her competitive edge is what does it.”
Coates relishes having the ball in her hand, but is a reluctant star. She politely thanks folks for all the compliments and leaves the “best ever” debates to others.
“I set goals for myself,” Coates said, “but I never really quite envisioned things turning out the way they have.”
Coates’s formula for success is simple: “She works,” Lindsay said. “She works all summer long, she works all winter long.”
Coates often works out five days a week, for a full two hours at a time, and throws every other day. Even during the season, she will show up early or stay late for extra throwing sessions with catcher Lauren Kiser, Lindsay, or an assistant coach.
She grew up with her role model. Her 23-year-old sister Pam, five years older than Stephanie, played competitive softball as a youngster and eventually suited up for the Dukes.
Stephanie took to the game almost immediately. She couldn’t play competitive softball until age 8, but she was always in the back yard throwing with her older sister and her teammates and was around the game whenever possible.
“I always had the drive to be better than her,” Stephanie said. “She inspired me to be the best that I can be.”
Phyllis Coates remembers Stephanie as an intense competitor all the way back to tee ball. Instead of admiring the dandelions like many other kids, she zealously ran the bases and made plays in the field.
At age 10, she came to her parents and said she wanted to play on better teams than those in the local rec league. Her folks found a travel team for her.
Coates dabbled in soccer and gymnastics as a youngster. She even played JV hoops at Gloucester as a freshman. But softball was her love.
Coates first crossed Lindsay’s radar as a sixth grader, largely because he coached Pam. He saw potential, he said, “but I wasn’t aware of that inner drive right away. Once I saw that inner drive, I thought she had the chance to be something special.”
In three years, Coates is 65-7, with 820 strikeouts and a 0.53 ERA. She has walked a total of 75 batters in her entire high school career.
Coates hates giving up hits. Practice, game, friend or foe, doesn’t matter.
“She doesn’t like giving up hits in intrasquad games,” Lindsay said. “There are times when I’ve hit against her, and she hates giving up hits to me.”
In a six-inning, intrasquad simulated game recently, Lindsay said that only two balls were even hit hard against her, “and she was not happy. You could tell.”
Well, that’s the other thing about Coates. If you don’t know her, if you haven’t studied her, you can’t tell.
Her expression rarely changes when she’s on the mound. You wouldn’t know if she struck out the side or if she just gave up a two-run double.
“She doesn’t say much,” Lindsay said. “She just plays.”
If Coates is peeved, she might smack the ball into her glove one time. Then it’s back to work.
“I’m in the zone during games,” Coates said. “I try not to let my emotions get a hold of me. Emotion doesn’t usually help when you’re competing. I just try to concentrate pitch to pitch.”
Coates throws six different pitches — fastball, changeup, drop ball, rise ball, curve ball and screwball. Her fastball has topped out at 63 mph, the equivalent of a 90-plus mph fastball in baseball. Her screwball and curve have been clocked at 61 mph, so batters shouldn’t expect to see much of her fastball, with velocity like that on her movement pitches.
“She puts hitters on the defensive right away,” Tallon said. “She just doesn’t throw very many balls. If you don’t get her early, you’re not going to get her at all. If she’s ahead in the count, she’s probably going to stay ahead in the count. It’s five percent of the time that if she gets ahead of you that she loses the battle.”
Coates, who carries a 4.3 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, is as dedicated academically as she is on the softball field. Years ago, she set a goal of earning a college scholarship. She routinely bypassed social outings and Friday night trips to the movies for schoolwork.
She describes herself as a fairly boring person. She’s not on Facebook or MySpace or IM-ing on the computer. Free time usually is spent with family and a few friends.
“When I get home,” she said one recent afternoon following practice, “I eat and then do my homework. By that time, I’m tired. I want to go to bed.”
Coates committed to the Cavaliers under the previous coaching regime, but she committed to the school as much as to the softball program. She didn’t reconsider after new coach Eileen Schmidt and her staff took over last spring. Schmidt visited last summer to personally evaluate Coates and confirm her commitment before she signed a letter-of-intent for a full scholarship.
“A tremendous work ethic and a live arm,” Schmidt said. “She has a lot of movement, and she throws pretty hard. She’s tall and lanky, has long ‘levers,’ everything you’d want in a pitcher.”
The Cavaliers were 17-39 last year and 1-20 in the ACC, using four different starting pitchers. Under Schmidt, a 1994 U.Va. alum, Virginia is 7-15 following this weekend’s sweep at the hands of Florida State. The Cavaliers have used three starting pitchers who had as many walks as strikeouts and had allowed 5.2 runs per game.
“The combination of the live arm ... and that work ethic is just exactly what we need. We need a ‘one,’ Schmidt said, referring to a primary, No. 1 pitcher. “We need someone who can take 70-75 percent of the innings, and she physically can handle that.”
Coates is well aware that she needs to get stronger, that the adjustment from high school and travel ball to college won’t be easy. She knows that she isn’t likely to dominate in college ball as she has in high school, certainly not right away.
She will do what she always does: work at it.
“I want to play professionally,” Coates said of her long-range goals. “And if the
Olympics are a possibility, I want to make the Olympic team.”
Don’t bet against her. Unless she’s playing cards or darts.