EDWARDSVILLE — Edwardsville softball pitcher Jordan Garella bounced back from a tough first inning, in which she walked two and gave up two hits and two runs, to turn in a stellar performance in a 6-5 Tiger win over Triad Friday afternoon at the Edwardsville Sports Complex.
She scattered four hits and only walked two more, leaving the bases loaded in the first, second and fifth innings. As a senior, Garella knows how special this final year with the Tigers means.
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“I was very excited to go out and pitch,’ Garella said in a post-game interview, “because this is my last year, and I love the game.”
After her rough outing in the Tigers opener, Garella worked on her mechanics, and also credits the rest of the staff with giving her much support.
“Yeah, I’ve definitely been working on improving individually,” Garella said, “but I appreciate the others on the staff, because we all help each other.”
And Garella was able to get out of jams consistently against a very good hitting Knights lineup.
“They’re great hitters,” Garella said, “and we knew that going in. I worked through a couple of things, and we ended up getting out of it.”
And getting through a rough start in the first was a big boost mentally for Garella. It’s almost like adopting a bend, but don’t break mentality in the circle.
“There’s a huge mental part of pitching,” Garella said, “and even though sometimes you get wobbly, I always try to get back on track, and make sure that I just do my job.”
Not an overpowering, strikeout type pitcher, Garella depends on her defense to be successful.
“My defense, I rely completely on my defense,” Garella said. “Like Sarah Hangsleben had a great catch on the outfield that was really key. And they always get it in. That’s the difference between a double and a single, whenever they get it in like that.”
For a pitcher like Jordan Garella — the defense never rests.
