Player of the Year

No softball player in the region ever hit more home runs than Jodie Cox.

No athlete will top her four consecutive Golden League most valuable player awards.

And few who ever witnessed her in a pressure situation ever saw her fail.

“It will definitely be a different world without Jodie Cox,” co-Coach Coy Ray of Quartz Hill said.

Cox, The Times’ Valley player of the year for the second consecutive year, batted .500 with a region-high 12 home runs and 34 runs batted in.

She had a 23-2 pitching record with a 0.62 earned-run average.

“You don’t replace a Jodie Cox,” Ray said.

No.

You retire her number, put her name on the outfield wall and be grateful such a rare all-around athlete graced your program.

Cox, who has accepted a scholarship to Cal State Fullerton, hit 29 home runs in her career, many of them dramatic.

She hit two in a 3-1 victory over Glendora in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

The second, in the bottom of the 19th inning, ended a game in which she struck out a school-record 30 batters.

It marked the Rebel’s 25th consecutive victory, best in the area this year.

“We knew she was great, but we didn’t expect that”, a Glendora player said.

Golden League rivals had long been accustomed to Cox’s dominance.

She led the Rebels to four consecutive Golden League championships and the school’s only section title, in Division II in 1998.

And all along, she handled the spotlight and pressure as easily as a belt-high fastball.

“I just feel fortunate for the four years I’ve had at Quartz Hill,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to be remembered for any one thing in particular, just as an athlete who was lucky enough to play on some very good teams with some very good players and very good coaches.”

While Cox’s batting grabbed headlines, her left-handed pitching often was overlooked.

No area pitcher had more than Cox’s career totals of 70 victories or 777 strikeouts.

A standout in volleyball and soccer, Cox spent her senior softball season battling tendinitis in her left elbow.

The pain was evident with each pitch. After games, her father would rub liniment into the arm, making the pain just a little more bearable.

“You could tell she was hurting,” Coach Glenda Potts of rival Highland said. “But Jodie Cox at 80% is still better than just about anyone else at 100%.”

No one from the region would argue with that.