Leuzinger’s Star Pitcher’s Sister Threw Her a Curve

Candy Carrico never wanted to be a pitcher. The 18-year old Leuzinger High School hurler was volunteered for the job.

“I remember,” said Leuzinger softball Coach Sharon Curto, “when Candy was in eighth grade and we were in the playoffs. She came out to watch her older sister, Becky, who was on the team, and Becky introduced us after the game. She said, ‘This is Candy, she’ll play on the team. She’ll pitch.’ ”

“I prefer the outfield,” Carrico said. “But my older sister pitched here and she told the coach I was a pitcher. Then there was nobody else that could pitch, so I had to do it.”

Whether she likes it or not, Carrico is a tough pitcher, who has helped lead the Olympians (20-6, 9-1 league) to the finals of the CIF 1-A playoffs for the first time in the school’s history. Her record on the mound is 19-6.

“We all have so much confidence in her,” said Leuzinger senior shortstop Cindy Halvorson, “because when she’s on, we’ll never lose. She’s real modest, so she won’t say that, but it’s true.”

Carrico has 10 shutouts this season, three of them in the playoffs. She’s struck out 122 batters in 151 innings and has been the league’s most valuable player twice and an all-Pioneer League player four times.

“She’s like a race horse,” said Curto, who has coached at Leuzinger for eight years. “Once she gets in there and pitches a few, she gets warmed up and there’s no stopping her.”

The 5-foot-8 senior also leads league champion Leuzinger at the plate with a .456 batting percentage. In the quarterfinal playoff game against L.A. Baptist High, Carrico went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs and hit her sixth home run of the season. She also earned an 8-0 shutout.

“She’s one of the strongest players I’ve seen at this level,” said L.A. Baptist softball Coach Dave Martinez. “She really impressed me because she was all-around. She hit and she pitched good and hard. It’s very difficult to find a girl that’s so well-rounded in 1-A.”

Carrico has been developing her game for 10 years. Softball was a family ritual when the three Carrico sisters were growing up. Wendy, the youngest, also plays. The sophomore is the Olympians’ left fielder and backup pitcher.

“When Candy started playing,” said her father, James, who coaches softball at West Torrance High, “she was an energetic and clumsy kid like any other 8-year-old. But by the time she was 10, she was a good runner and hitter. By then she was a good ball player.”

Carrico also plays outfield for the Torrance Lightnings, an Amateur Softball Assn. 18-and-under team that her father coaches during the summer.

“Candy is a much better outfielder than a pitcher,” her father said. “She’s very aggressive in the outfield and she has a great arm. She also has tremendous speed.”

In tomorrow’s CIF final at 5:30 p.m., Carrico will be on the mound when Leuzinger faces St. Joseph High of Santa Maria at Mayfair Park in Lakewood. The Olympians will have to play their best against the Knights (22-8), who have only lost to 4-A schools this year.

Carrico, who will play softball at El Camino College next year, says she’s ecstatic that her team is in the finals. Leuzinger has only made it past the first round of the playoffs once during Carrico’s career.

“It’s a shock! “ she said. “I really can’t believe it, to tell you the truth.”