White House Heritage sophomore pitcher Alyssa Arden has an ERA below 1.00 and is hitting .500 this season.
Alyssa Arden and the White House Heritage softball team have opened a lot of eyes over the past two seasons.
The sophomore pitcher/shortstop has developed into one of the Midstate’s top players.
One of the biggest reasons for that is a go-to pitch that has been appropriately named by her coach.
“It’s a pitch she throws four different ways,” said White House Heritage coach Leslie Barrow. “It has a wicked spin on it. We call it, ‘nasty.’ It’s from the riseball grip. She does a good job moving it and placing it.”
“Sometimes I don’t even know what it does,” added Arden. “It just works.”
After opening in 2002, White House Heritage struggled on the softball field for more than a decade before having its first winning season in 2014.
Not coincidentally, Arden burst onto the Lady Patriot scene as an eighth-grader that season, leading the Lady Patriots to 20 wins.
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Last year the Lady Patriots reached the Class AA sectional before falling 2-0 to Creek Wood.
“(Last year’s sectional loss) made us work harder in the offseason,” said Heritage junior third baseman Megan Groves, who is the most experienced starter and the team leader on a squad that has only 11 players and no seniors.
“A lot of us got to play last year, so we’re basically the same team.”
Heritage is off to a 26-6-1 start, including an 8-2 Waverly Diamond Classic win over a Dyersburg team that entered the tournament 21-1.
Arden has pitched in the toughest of those games, winning 16 — four of them no hitters — with an ERA of 0.75 and 200 strikeouts in 119 innings.
When she’s not pitching, Arden is one of the top shortstops in the area, batting over .500 with four triples, 10 home runs and 46 RBIs.
“I love both,” said Arden, of pitching and or playing the field. “I’ll play anywhere, it doesn’t matter to me. But, I definitely want to pitch (in college).”
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“She’s the most fluid infielder,” added Barlow. “Everything she does looks effortless. I absolutely think she could play both in college. She’s getting a lot of (Division I) looks. She can definitely pitch at that level.”
Groves has provided potent protection for Arden in the cleanup spot. Other keys to the Lady Patriots’ success have been sophomore catcher and leadoff hitter Riley Hallum (Arden’s personal battery mate), sophomore pitcher/outfielder Sami West and sophomore Addison Holmes, who catches West and plays infield and outfield when she’s not behind the plate.
“Our juniors and sophomores have had to step up,” Arden said. “We are all really close on and off the field. There’s no drama on this team.”
While things are rolling along thus far for Heritage, Barlow warns about looking too far ahead.
“I don’t let them talk about state,” she said. “The only one that matters is the next one.”
She can’t blame her players, though, if they have visions of the team’s first trip to Spring Fling.
“Coach still reminds us of Creek Wood,” Groves said. “We all want to get to that next level. We have to stay healthy and keep working hard. We have good chemistry.”
And a little “nasty.”