She Catches On Fast After Making Switch

Amanda Peek didn’t stop playing baseball just because she was too old for Little League. The junior right-hander kept playing right alongside the boys, up until this season, when she finally decided to give softball a try.

So far, it has been a transition worth making.

Peek is catching for La Crescenta Crescenta Valley and has quickly established herself on offense and defense.

Especially on defense.

In her first scrimmage, against La Canada, she not only threw out two runners attempting to steal, but also twice picked runners off base.

“They don’t run on her,” Coach Dan Berry said. “The word got out on that.”

So far, Peek has thrown out all six runners attempting to steal against her and picked off another.

“Defensively, she’s done a great job,” Berry said. “She’s very good at handling the pitchers.”

Her first two years of high school, she pitched on the junior varsity baseball team.

“The guys were really good about it,” Peek said. “I played with most of them my whole life. A lot of them are like, ‘Why did you switch to softball?’

“The boys got a lot taller and stronger. To me, it was a good time to switch over for scholarship opportunities.”

The transition looks pretty smooth. Peek is batting .435 with two doubles and two triples among her 10 hits. Her slugging average is .696. Those numbers figure to go up when she makes her swing more compact and conducive to softball.

Peek, who also pitches, said there’s also another adjustment, to the speed of the game.

“It’s more fast-paced than baseball,” she said. “When the game is over, it feels like it’s only the third inning.

“I think you have to be smarter to play softball than baseball; everything’s really compact, and you have to think really fast.”

Berry, who has coached women’s open teams, said Peek’s arm strength would fit in among players who are more physically mature. “Her arm is just unbelievable,” he said.

Peek doesn’t think she’ll be wondering ‘what if’ years from now, when she looks back on her playing career.

“I had lots of fun playing baseball my whole life, playing travel ball, but I felt like I made a good decision to switch over,” Peek said. “Everything I did [in baseball] felt right. If I had switched earlier, I might have regretted it. I was having lots of fun playing baseball.”

One thing that wasn’t fun was the pressure. In Little League, she said, “I got pressured a lot by fathers who said, ‘Why don’t you play softball,’ after striking out their sons.”

Those dads don’t have to worry anymore. There’s a new set of parents with worries.

“As a defensive catcher, and with her arm, she’s as good at catcher as Meredith Cervenka was at pitcher,” Berry said, referring to the Crescenta Valley ace who recorded 24 shutouts in 2000.

“When I heard she was making the switch, I felt very good about it. Once in a lifetime do you get an outstanding player at a given position. We had it with Cervenka and now we have it with Amanda.”

And the results are reflected in the team’s 7-2 record.

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Caitlin Lowe’s three-for-three performance against Riverside King on Saturday gave her a school-record 160 hits at Santa Ana Foothill. She moved past some impressive players along the way.

Her first hit tied her for second with Autumn Champion and Lauren Bauer with 158, and her second hit tied her for first with Michelle Churnock with 159. Lowe also holds the school’s stolen base record with 107; Bauer had 100.

As for Foothill’s struggles -- the inexperienced Knights (5-8) dropped out of the top 25 this week -- they are waiting on Caitlin’s sister, Paige Lowe. Her return to third base from a back injury within a few weeks should solve some defensive problems.

One of the best programs for the past decade, Foothill’s foibles include committing nine errors in a 3-2 loss to No. 21 Lake Forest El Toro.

In a 2-0 loss to Corona Santiago pitcher Taryne Mowatt, Foothill made five errors.

Seven losses have been to ranked teams.

“The schedule we play will help us,” Coach Joe Gonzalez said. “We’ll boot a ball and lose, 2-0. It would be a mistake to think that we’re done.”

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Sarah Maciel, a junior at Harbor City Narbonne, pitched a no-hitter against L.A. Wilson and got all 21 outs by strikeout.

Only one catch: She walked 10.

The final score? 25-7.

Maciel also excelled at the plate with three hits, including a homer, and four runs batted in.