Playoff Profiles : Foes Receive Short Shrift

Just because softball pitcher Kaylene Boldroff is aware of her limitations doesn’t mean she lets them get in the way.

Despite her diminutive stature--she says she “might be” 5 feet 1--she is the Oak Park High softball team’s best player.

Accurate though not overpowering as a pitcher, Boldroff (11-7) will lead her team into the Southern Section Division V quarterfinals for the third consecutive season today when the Eagles play host to Riverside Notre Dame at 3:15 p.m.

“I never learned to throw real hard,” said Boldroff, who has played club softball since age 10. “I keep waiting to grow.”

While waiting, Boldroff has learned to paint the edge of the plate and change speeds.

“If the umpire’s going to give her the corners, she’s awesome,” Oak Park Coach Roger Newell said. “She really knows how to set up her pitches.”

Newell used to call Boldroff’s pitches before agreeing to let her call her own game against La Reina on April 2.

Boldroff retired the first 12 batters and finished with a five-hitter as the Eagles beat the Regents for only the second time in the 15-year history of the Oak Park program.

“I haven’t messed with her since,” Newell said with a laugh. “She’s taken it to the next level by focusing on batters’ strengths and weaknesses and not just the pitches she’s throwing.”

Boldroff, Oak Park’s ace the past three seasons, led the Eagles to a share of the Tri-Valley League title this season. She has an 0.57 earned-run average with 141 strikeouts and only 45 walks in 111 innings.

“I can’t wait until Kaylene graduates,” St. Bonaventure Coach Craig Thompson said a few weeks ago. “The kids come back to the bench saying, ‘But coach, the pitch was outside,’ and I tell them, ‘It can’t be that far outside because the umpire’s just rung up 13 of you!’ ”