BSM 9th-grader already a veteran

In the big leagues, rookie relief pitchers are often made to carry a pastel-colored kiddie backpack to the bullpen. In high school sports, it's the freshmen who are subject to similar good-natured fun.

Maddie Houlihan heard the calls from Benilde-St. Margaret's upperclassmen last week during softball practice.

Pick up the equipment, freshmen!

She obliged -- for now.

Houlihan might be among the four freshmen listed on the roster, but she's hardly a newcomer.

The Red Knights' leadoff hitter and first baseman is set to start her third year on the team. She hit .453 with 52 stolen bases as a middle-schooler and enters her first season as a high school student with high hopes for more.

"Hitting is the strongest part of my game," she said. "It's always come easy for me."

He heard rumblings about her from parents of junior high volleyball players he coaches in the fall. Admittedly, he was skeptical.

"About 90 percent of the time, seventh-graders come to our tryout as shy little things," he said. "Some of them bought their first glove three weeks ago, and you can tell 30 seconds into a batting cage session where they're at."

Houlihan didn't hold back.

An hour into tryouts, Wagner figured Houlihan would be a solid "C" team candidate. A day later, he had penciled her into the varsity lineup.

"It was a package of things that together created an enigma of a specimen," he said. "You could tell she knew how to play. She came in as a veteran in seventh grade."

"These girls were talking about where they were going off to college," she said. "I was like, 'Hi. I'm 12.'"

Her play did the talking, and she fit in immediately.

Houlihan is left-handed, a vital asset to any speedy leadoff hitter. She often bunts her way onto first base, but is also known to rip a solid line drive.

"She's hit home runs in practice," Wagner said. "But she's so quick out of the batter's box [that] coaches have their third basemen play so far up. I'm fearful of that, because she's on her own [selecting pitches to hit]."

The four batters scheduled to hit after Houlihan in the lineup are also back from last year's team, which bowed out early in Class 3A, Section 6 play. But two of the Red Knights' four seniors are four-year starters. Wagner said his outlook for the season is "guardedly optimistic."