PLAYOFF PROFILES : Cox Triples Expectations

At the start of the season, Golden League softball coaches were not familiar with Quartz Hill High player Jodi Cox.

They are now. And will be for a few more years.

Cox, a 14-year-old freshman, has nine triples, second most in Southern Section history for a season. She would tie the record with one more Friday against St. Lucy’s in the opening round of the Division III playoffs.

Cox, who pitches and plays first base, is a lock for first-team all-league honors and is a strong candidate for most valuable player.

“I knew she could play,” Quartz Hill Coach Coy Ray said. “I’d seen her in travel ball.”

But Ray was astounded when his rookie batted .468, with 16 of her 37 hits going for extra bases.

Cox is batting .600 with runners in scoring position, and she has four doubles and three home runs. Despite batting leadoff, she has a league-leading 22 runs batted in.

Quartz Hill (15-9, 8-2 in league play) tied for the league title with Ridgecrest Burroughs, but there is no telling where the Rebels would have finished without Cox. She also carried the defensive load with her pitching (11-9 record, 1.66 earned-run average).

“You know you need nine players, but she seems to be always pulling it out for Quartz Hill,” Highland Coach Glenda Potts said. “She’s tearing it up.”

Ray has yet to detect a weakness in Cox’s game.

“She’s got a great glove, a great arm throwing overhand and she has speed to burn,” Ray said. “She has great power and consistency. I’ve never had a player of this caliber as a freshman.”

But what sets Cox apart, Ray said, is her will to win.

“She’s very intense,” Ray said. “Losing is not an option.”

Cox said she expected to sit on the bench this year when she wasn’t pitching, but she surprised even herself with her hitting.

“[Ray] put me in the lineup right away and I think I was just getting the job done,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d have this much success. I was one of those players who hit the ball once in a while.

“I’m just trying to make contact, just trying to hit line drives.”

Cox has shown an unusual knack for hitting balls into gaps and legging out triples. With one more, she will tie section record-holders Chelcee Clifton of Big Bear (1989) and Tina Acero of Baldwin Park (‘90).

“I think it’s great,” said Cox, who can’t recall hitting nine triples in her life before this season. “I remember Coach Ray saying to me one time, ‘You reach third base more than anybody.’ ”

Well, almost anybody.