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PrintCOLUMBIA — Columbia College pitcher Katie McMahon had been having trouble with her delivery.
The senior kept hitting her hip with her throwing arm during pitches. To try and solve the problem, McMahon turned to freshman pitcher Valerie Teter for help.
McMahon, the defending Region V and American Midwest Conference pitcher of the year, was asking a freshman for help.
Teter had dealt with the same problem before, so she could draw on her experience with the problem to give McMahon advice.
“I had trouble with that in high school so I knew what I did wrong and tried to help her,” Teter said.
As a senior, McMahon has previously pitched against many of the batters that she and Teter face. McMahon has imparted on Teter her knowledge of what pitches to use to get certain batters out.
The relationship between the two ace pitchers has worked for Columbia College all season, and Friday’s doubleheader against McKendree was no exception.
McMahon pitched in the first game, throwing a complete game shut out in the Cougars’ 2-0 win. She is now 9-4 with a 1.47 ERA on the season.
Teter gave up two runs in the first inning, but recovered to blank McKendree the rest of the way in the second game. Columbia College won 6-2. Teter is now 11-3 on the season with a 1.10 ERA and 128 strikeouts.
Columbia College coach Wendy Spratt said that having two ace pitchers is a luxury that not many other teams have.
“I think it’s a confidence builder really for our team,” Spratt said. “A lot of teams have one good pitcher and then second game it drops off. Our second game doesn’t drop off.”
It was the first time since 2005 that the Columbia College softball team beat McKendree. The Bearcats swept Columbia College each of the past two years.
“(We are rivals with) McKendree and William Woods. We are always the top three teams in the conference,” Spratt said. “Those are two big wins for us. We are pretty excited.”
Columbia College first baseman Rachel Brawner was 2-for-5 on the day, with a double, a homerun, two runs scored, and 2 RBI.
Brawner said that the softball team is just as big of rivals with McKendree as the Columbia College basketball teams are. McKendree beat both of the basketball teams in the AMC Tournament Championship.
“We don’t like McKendree either,” Brawner said. “We’ve always wanted to beat them ... It’s nice to bring them to our home and take care of business.”
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