Lindsay Blanton has everything a coach would want in a catcher, and this year, she’s showing even more.
Players behind the plate have a reputation for being less than fleet of foot. But not Blanton. The lefty’s improvement with the bat has allowed her to show she’s anything but a stereotypical plodder when it comes to getting out of the batter’s box and scooting around the bases.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Blanton said. “Yeah, that is something most people don’t expect. I hear that from a lot of umpires, They’ll hit me with, ‘Whoa, you’re not supposed to be fast.’ I’m like, ‘Sorry.'”
Sorry, but not sorry. The Bloomington South senior works out of the No. 9 spot, and she’s been one of South’s revelations at the bottom of the order with junior Aminah Saahir (.373) and sophomore Perry Murphy (.452).
In her first season batting regularly, Blanton is third on the team at .426 batting average and stolen bases (5) and first in runs scored at 17, setting up the top of the order for RBIs. That after picking up just three hits in her first 50 high school at-bats.
“I hit pretty well in travel ball, which opened mind to what my capabilities were coming into this spring,” Blanton said. “I focused on fundamental things, what I could do to help the team.”
Which helped her relax at the plate. It wasn’t necessarily her swing, stance or batting eye that was holding her back.
“I think that in past years, I always struggled hitting here because I felt a lot of pressure,” Blanton said. “But I think this year, with this being my last year, I just let a lot of that go.
“And that has, even more than any time I’ve spent working, just mentally, letting everything go and letting it be fun and not stressful, is what’s helped me the most.”
The Panthers (11-7 through May 20) have benefited from her growth in all parts of the game. She thinks as quickly as she runs and controls and guides her batterymates and teammates like she does her bat.
“Lindsay’s done a great job,” South coach Meg Montgomery said. “She’s come a long way in the last several years, listening to (assistant coach Amanda Gililland), our pitching and catching coach, learning the game, trying to get better every single practice.
“She’s a kid who absorbs information and wants to get it right and has developed into a catcher we want behind the plate.”
Blanton has her ‘head on a swivel’
As for the other tools, she’s as solid as they come, having gone all of last year without committing an error and, knock on wood, so far this year as well. Working behind the plate is where she was called to go.
“When I was little, I thought everybody who got to wear the gear was cool,” Blanton said. “So I just started catching and everybody always needed a catcher, so I never stopped catching.”
She developed a cool demeanor to go with the cool look.
“I really liked that I get to be a part of every pitch,” Blanton said. “And lead. I was never good at pitching, so I thought catching would be the only way to do that.”
There’s never a time to relax. Catchers are one of the ultimate multi-taskers.
“Definitely head on a swivel for all seven innings,” Blanton said, in describing what it’s like when she crouches down behind home plate.
Where is this ump’s strike zone? How’s my pitcher looking? What pitches are working? What pitch did coach call? Is the runner on first looking to steal? How many outs? What’s the count? What’s this batter done the past two times up? Is a bunt coming? The list goes on and on.
“But I like that,” she continued. “It’s good for somebody who overthinks, and I’m constantly trying to think things through all the time, accept all those roles and responsibility that come with the game.”
Blanton is ‘Just what we need’
With responsibility comes the power of gab.
“Definitely a lot of talking,” Blanton said. “There’s a lot of skills and fundamentals in catching, but one thing you can control every pitch is how much you talk.
“Controlling the attitude of everybody in the field and setting the tone is more important than any skill you can have, so I try to always be mindful of that when I’m catching.”
Her demeanor and leadership have grown with her experience. As a sophomore, she caught two college quality pitchers in Kinsey Clopton and Morgan Cockerill. Last year, it was the complete opposite, shepherding an all-freshman staff through its first varsity season.
“When I was a sophomore and got to catch Kinsey, she taught me a lot,” Blanton said. “And I learned the more you catch somebody outside of practice, you learn what little things help them when they’re struggling. What hypes them up? Every pitcher is different, so just taking as many reps with them as possible to learn mentally how they work.”
So Blanton got to work, building chemistry with ace Rachel Johnson and Shiloh Rockhill, both sophomores, and this year’s freshman hurler, Nora Sons.
“In the fall of last year, I got really comfortable with them,” Blanton said. “And anytime they did anything good, I tried to really hype it up and make them feel like they were doing the right thing constantly, because it’s scary to go out and start varsity.”
What she says and how she says it carry a lot of weight. Her upbeat approach does nothing but pick up any teammate’s confidence.
“Pitching’s funny,” Montgomery said. “Sometimes, they may be on; sometimes, a little bit off. Maybe they give up a home run or a key RBI, but she’s got the personality to go out and make them laugh, get them refocused, get the team refocused.
“Sometimes, I don’t know what’s going on in the circle, but you want a catcher like that who can loosen things, up but also get serious and rein things in.”
That all means keeping herself calm and in control, again, leaning on her years of experience.
“A lot,” Blanton said. “My quote to reset myself this year was, ‘Trust yourself and trust all the past work you’ve put in.'”
South will need everything she brings if it’s to contend for a sectional title this week, starting with a Memorial Day game against Terre Haute South.
“She’s able to help settle down some of our new pitchers, help guide them,” Montgomery said. “She knows when a pitcher is on or something’s not working.
“She just been what we need.”
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Catcher getting up to speed this year for Bloomington South softball
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
