LJ baseball and softball: Pitching in

By Ed Piper, Jr.

I got an answer I didn't expect when I asked Nick Ferenczy's father if his son liked pitching.

We were standing behind the backstop at Muirlands Middle School during La Jolla's 7-3 win over West Hills Tues., March 28. We had a perfect view of Nick, a right-hander, on the mound as he threw against Wolf Pack hitters, whom he stymied pretty effectively for five innings.

Replied William, "Better than his sister."

Wow. His sister is Kyra Ferenczy, who continues to blaze a trail, with pitch and bat, for the Viking softball team. She's now in her second year as La Jolla's sole pitcher when the game really counts.

Raising my eyes at this statement, I asked dad, "What position would she rather play?" "She'd rather be in the outfield."

Both Ferenczy youth are excellent hitters, as well as pitchers. Here I had formed a whole idea of Kyra, like her brother her team's leadoff batter, as this tornado of a pitcher toiling from the pitcher's circle. Which she is.

Meanwhile, her head is saying, I would rather be in the outfield.

Now that their dad mentioned this, I faintly remember someone saying last year, when Kyra first started playing at La Jolla, that Kyra played other positions but could pitch when her team needed that. Maybe Kyra herself told me that.

All of which was a great relief then to Anthony Sarain, the Vikings' coach at the time. His daughter, Katya, had graduated in June 2015, leaving the team without a viable pitcher.

So, this story is really about Kyra, not her brother. Both continue blistering the ball at the plate. Hopefully, neither one gets blisters from pitching, which would be an issue for any hurler.

This is a true act of doing something for the team: the fact that Kyra, who would prefer playing in the outfield, is willing to pitch almost every single inning for the La Jolla softball team.

By the way, Kyra is hitting .320 through seven games in the first slot in the order for the Vikings. She missed a couple of games at the start of the season while she and centerfielder Vanessa Shaffer were playing for the CIF Division 2 champion soccer team.