Rachel Allen keeps firing for Tonawanda Lady Warriors softball team

If you are Rachel Allen what do you possibly do for an encore?

Allen, the starting pitcher for the Tonawanda Lady Warriors softball team, burst onto the varsity scene as a seventh grader.

That’s right, seventh grader.

Throwing her first varsity pitch as a 12-year-old middle schooler, few could begin to imagine the pressure Allen must have been feeling. But she handled that first season with an amazing show of confidence, maturity and poise.

Allen did exactly what you expect from a pitcher. She gave her team a chance to win every time she walked into the pitching circle.

Coming into Year Two you might think that Allen would be feeling pressure because more was now expected of her.

But she just shrugged that notion off and said, if anything, she’s feeling even better because she has that year of experience on her resume.

“I thought it was easier this year than it was last year,” Allen said.

No longer navigating uncharted waters, Allen said having a year of varsity under her belt has helped her settle into her role and be even more secure this year. But at the same time Allen knows she still has a lot to learn.
Which is why she feels lucky to be working with such a great catcher like senior Danielle “D.T.” Tyler.
Saying that Allen has tremendous ability, Tyler can read her young pitcher’s emotions very well and knows how to keep her calm and focused. Whether it’s loosening her up with an inside joke or simply reminding Allen she has a capable defense backing her up Tyler said she is very impressed with how Allen has pitched in her career.

“She doing really good, for being an eighth-grader, she throws awesome,” said Tyler.

“She gets a lot of people out with her screwball. She’s improving a lot. So I just keep reminding her of that. Try to pick her up when she gets nervous or she gets frustrated because a lot of these teams are really good hitting teams, and there’s you can do about that.”

Secure in what she brings in the circle Allen wants to be a complete player which is why she has focused this season on improving herself at the plate.

“The biggest surprise from Rachel this year has been her hitting,” said coach Jay Hall. “She’s hitting the ball very well.

She’s had one or two hits almost every game.”

Still, pitching is Allen’s forte and she has that drive to constantly search out ways to get better.

Already having good command of her pitches, especially her screwball and fastball, Allen took private lessons and worked on expanding her arsenal of pitches.

“I learned new pitches,” Allen said. “A curve and drop curve.”

Rachel Allen is a young lady of few words. She would rather do her talking on the field.
So far she’s been doing that very well.

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