HIGH LIFE : A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Praying to Win : Faith and Stellar Pitching Put Connelly Senior on Top

As Santina Delligata approaches home plate with the bat in her hands, she looks to the third-base coaching box for a signal.

Coach Timmerie Sullivan claps her hands, puts one fist on top of the other and makes a swinging motion.

Delligata nods, adjusts her helmet, places her right foot in the batter’s box and as the crowd cheers--”Come on San, you can do it!”--she raises her right hand to her forehead and makes the sign of the cross.

She then places her left foot in the box, brings both arms and the bat back, bends her knees and makes eye contact with the pitcher.

The pitch is delivered and Delligata lets it pass by.

Ball one.

“Good eye, San,” her teammates yell.

She steps out of the box, looks down at Sullivan again and is given the same signal.

Delligata repeats the sign of the cross, waits for the next pitch and hits it between the shortstop and third baseman for a double.

Delligata, who leads the Cornelia Connelly School softball team in hitting and pitching, has been named the most valuable player for three consecutive years by both her teammates and by the Sunrise League. The MVP hat trick is a first in the Sunrise League.

As Connelly’s lone pitcher the last three years, the senior proved to be the driving force and inspiration behind her team’s success.

This season, Delligata led the Koalas (8-0 in league play, 10-2 overall) to the Southern Section playoffs for the third year in a row. Once there, they defeated Western Christian, 3-1, in the first round of the 1-A playoffs before losing to Big Bear, 4-0.

“Santina is so competitive and her desire to win carries to all of us,” center fielder Christa Tomacheski said. “She has inspired everyone. It amazes me how she can do it all. She is very strong and strong-willed.”

There are three components that make up Delligata’s success: dedication, hard work and her strong religious faith.

“God is the driving force behind every pitch,” she said. “He is out there with me on the field and I draw my strength from him.”

But Delligata’s faith extends beyond the playing field. It has to.

On May 6, Florence Delligata, her mother, died of unknown causes. While many 18-year-olds may have blamed God for taking a parent away, wondering why and how such a thing could happen, Delligata responded differently: “She’s much happier now. She is with God.”

Before the game on the afternoon of her mother’s Rosary, Delligata, the youngest of four children, said to a teammate, “Let’s get this over in five innings. I have to go see my mother.”

Delligata pitched a no-hitter that afternoon against St. Matthias, and Connelly had a big enough lead that the “mercy rule” came into play, ending the game after five innings.

“When Santina needs help, she looks to her belief in God and it gives her the strength to get through it,” said her father, Silvio Delligata, whose family lives in Anaheim.

This year alone, Delligata’s pitching achievements included three no-hitters, six one-hitters and two two-hitters. She also struck out 162 batters in 74 innings. Her career statistics include a record of 32-11--nine of those victories no-hitters--and 347 strikeouts.

Over her three-year high school career, Delligata averaged 10 strikeouts per game and had a .418 batting average.

“Santina takes her God-given talents and gives 100%,” Sullivan said. “She develops them to the best of her ability and she can be satisfied with that. God and her family are the major drives in her life.”

As for her leadership abilities, Sullivan said, “She is a very take-charge kind of person and she is very goal-oriented. She has the ability to shut out everything but the moment, which takes some a lifetime to learn. She offers herself to the people around her. She offers them her strength.

“Faced with her situation, I don’t know if I could handle it as well as she has.”

Delligata said pressure “is something I thrive on.”

“If I’m not a leader, I’d have to be a follower and I’m not really comfortable in that role,” she said. “You have to know you can do it, and then you can handle the pressure.”

This fall, Delligata will attend the University of La Verne, where she plans to continue playing softball. She said she chose the school because “it is a private college with the same atmosphere as Connelly. There’s a lot of individual attention, which is something I need.” She plans to major in psychology--with an eye on a career as a child psychologist--and, perhaps, minor in acting.

“I’m not as confident with acting as I am on the field,” she said, “but I know I can be just as good.

“I just want to do the best I can, and be the best person I can be.”