Aug. 27, 2009
Contact: Martin Rickman
The Cleveland State softball team knows a little something about winning. Luckily for them, freshman Tess Sito does too.
Sito was the winning pitcher in the 2009 State Championship over Hudson High School. Saying she had a good state tournament would be an understatement. Sito finished the seven games with 100 Ks and a 0.15 ERA. To boot, she also batted .476.
“She’s the whole package,” head coach Angie Nicholson said, “the movement, the speed and the strength; she can hit, she can field and she can run. She can do it all. You don’t find that often, especially in pitchers.”
Sito is such a good all-around player because she did not pitch very much in her first two seasons at Elyria High School. And that wasn't a bad thing. Current Cleveland State sophomore Megan Bashak was the number one pitcher for the Pioneers and she helped lead Elyria to a 112-16 record and had a 1.35 career ERA with 355 strikeouts.
The extra work in the field allowed Sito to refine her game. She is an excellent hitter and has tremendous speed. She also excels in the classroom; her senior season she had a 4.23 GPA. In her junior season, Sito exploded. She became the dominant pitcher that carried her to back-to-back Gatorade Player of the Year honors.
After finishing as state runner up for her first three seasons, Sito captured the elusive state title her senior year, capping off a season in which she was 27-2 with a 0.21 ERA, 312 Ks in 186 2/3 IP and a .450 batting average.
“There are three things that make her good: speed, movement and her composure on the mound,” Nicholson said. “She doesn’t get rattled. In the championship game against Hudson, a home run was rocked off of her, but she turned around and struck the next girl out. It wasn’t a big deal. She is not one of those kids who will sit there and dwell on it. She knows it’s over and there was nothing she could do. I can tell she’s got that.”
Sito certainly pitched in a lot of important games during her high school career, and that will make a big difference as she transitions to the college level. And she will need that big game experience, as the Vikings seek their second-straight Horizon League Championship. The team had a 37-18 record and reached the NCAA Tournament for the second time in team history, falling to Notre Dame and Miami (OH) in the first round.
“I do think pitching in those big games will help me,” Sito said. “I’m used to pressure situations, so I think that will translate well to college. I’m not going to be playing in a lot of blowouts, so experience in those close games will help. College is different, but I think I’m ready.”
The Vikings lost a lot of veteran players from that Horizon League champion team, but is bringing in six other freshmen in addition to Sito who are expected to make an immediate impact. And Nicholson believes that this team is in a good position to make it back to the NCAAs.
“We lost a lot of kids,” Nicholson said. “With that being said, we knew what we were losing. We have seven phenomenal freshmen who know their role and the expectations of this program. I don’t feel like we will miss one beat. Is it a rebuilding year? Absolutely not. Our expectations are to go out there, win the conference and move past the first round.”
Sito will provide a one-two punch with senior starter Amanda Macenko, who recorded 28 wins in the 2009 season and was named to the All-Midwest Region team. Macenko was the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year the last two seasons and had a 2.53 ERA a year ago.
With Macenko on the hill, Sito will still be able to provide support with the bat playing in the field. She will look to Macenko for leadership and can learn a lot from the CSU record holder in wins, starts, complete games and innings pitched.
“I expect Tess to come in and push herself to places that she’s never seen before,” Nicholson said. “If she does that and buys into our system, she is going to be phenomenal.
“With her and Amanda, this could be the best combination anybody has ever seen in this conference. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if the two can come together and realize they’re working for the same cause, it’s going to be great.”
Sito has had a lot of good memories in her time as a pitcher, but she’s ready for more, and if her past success is any indication, the Vikings will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
