WEST POINT — Anna Grace Reed knows she is a work in progress at catcher.
When you have played behind the plate for a year-and-a-half, there are bound to be things that are going to give you problems. In Reed’s case, Oak Hill Academy fast-pitch softball coach Mitch Bohon is going to be happy to be the voice in her ear to remind her what she needs to do.
“Don’t think,” Bohon said to Reed on Saturday morning, early in Oak Hill Academy’s game against Hebron Christian. “Just go down and block the ball.”
The junior catcher acknowledged Bohon and then executed his wishes, going to her knees to keep pitches from classmate Kenzie Jukes in front of her.
In addition to playing a strong game defensively, Reed had a two-run single in a three-run third inning that propelled Oak Hill Academy to a 7-1 victory in the first game of the Oak Hill Academy tournament at Kim Keller Field.
Oak Hill Academy defeated Starkville Academy 19-4 in three innings in its second game of the day.
Jukes was the story in the first game, as she allowed only three hits in six innings. She struck out 10 and walked four.
“That was the best game a pitcher has thrown at Oak Hill Academy since I have been here,” said Bohon, who is in his third season as head coach.
Not only has Jukes matured in the circle, but Reed also has grown more confident behind the plate. A former second baseman, Reed said she didn’t have much practice last season before Bohon decided to move her to catcher.
“I maybe practiced once, maybe a week before a game and he said, ‘OK, you’re catching this game,’ ” Reed said. “I was like, ‘All right,’ so I suited up and caught my first game at Winona (Christian), I think. I did OK for my first time.”
Reed said she knew how to put on the gear because she recalled catching one game when she played softball in the city rec league. Still, she said it was different from playing a position like second base that she had grown comfortable playing.
Reed smiled and admitted she wasn’t too sure about playing the position at first, but she said she has come to really like it and that she feels “very confident catching now.”
Reed couldn’t help smile when she made the comment because Bohon was standing in front of her listening to the exchange. She said she really liked playing second base and the thought of doing something she had never done, especially a job that looked “kind of hard,” made her “a little nervous.” But Reed said she “did it, is doing it, and I like it.”
You wouldn’t have known Reed remains a relative newcomer to the position if you watched her Saturday. After heeding Bohon’s wishes, Reed stayed down and kept balls in front of her. Her work behind the plate helped Jukes feel confident she could throw her changeup and have it dip low and out of the strike zone.
“She’s really good,” Jukes said of Reed. “I couldn’t do it without her.”
Bohon agrees.
“She’s getting there,” Bohon said. “She is still learning. She only has been catching for a year-and-a-half. It was late in the year that we finally stuck her back there because I felt defensively she could do it.
Bohon feels reed has been one of the Raiders’ best defenders since the move. He said she has a strong arm, which will help her control the running game. Bohon also feels Reed’s ability to pitch will help her at catcher because she will now how to work umpires’ strike zones and to read hitters.
The only issue Reed said she might have is staying sharp mentally. She said she is “in my head a lot,” which explains why Bohon made the comment from his chair in front of the team’s dugout on the third-base side of the field.
“She is tough as nails and knows the game really well,” Bohon said. “She thinks a little bit too much. When she starts to read it, she is going to be really good at it.”
Reed said she will try to stay in games mentally because she knows she plays a key role working with Jukes.
“I kind of get a little crazy and I am not just playing. I am thinking too much about it, so I sometimes get ahead of myself,” Reed said. “He just tells me not to think, have fun, and to do what I do.”
Against Hebron Christian, Reed and all of her teammates did what they do well. Reagan Freeman, Mallory Williamson, Annabelle Miller, and Laura McBrayer also had hits. The Raiders capitalized on five errors, six walks, and three hit by pitches in the victory.
Against Starkville Academy, Williamson had a two-run inside-the-park home run on a line drive that went off the left fielder’s glove and rolled to the fence. Carley Wooten had a double, Freeman and Sunni Milican had an infield hits, and Amberly Harden had a single. The Raiders were the beneficiary of eight walks and five hit by pitches.
The victories came on the heels of a 6-3 victory against Heritage Academy in a lightning-shortened season opener for both teams. Reed said Jukes threw more changeups against Hebron Christian against Heritage Academy. In fact, she didn’t think Jukes threw very many off-speed pitches Friday, but she said she is excited because Jukes did a good job keeping Hebron Christian off balance.
That bodes well for an Oak Hill Academy program that figures to rely on the continued maturation of Jukes in the circle and Reed behind the plate in its effort to get back to the state tournament for what is believed to be the first time since 2010.
“Coming out at the top at the end of this tournament is a goal, but our ultimate goal is to get to State and to win State,” Reed said. “I am very confident in our team. We have been together for three years. We have improved drastically, and we are very excited for this season and what we are going to be able to do.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
