Danielle Wilson may have to sedate Jamie Terry until the Nottingham High softball team has its April 1 opener with Lawrence.
After that, though, Wilson will just have to wind her up and let her go.
“There’s no other way to say it, I’m stoked for this season!” the senior pitcher/centerfielder said during the pre-season. “The whole team is going to do awesome. We’re working our butts off right now.”
Terry herself said she’s “been working out like crazy.”
“I played travel ball, got all my college recruiting done, did a clinic,” she said. “I’ve been hitting, I’ve just done so much work to get ready for the season.”
Which is good news for the Northstars, as Terry will again be a key figure in any success Nottingham has. And there should be plenty that, as many of the key figures from last year’s Mercer County Tournament and Central Jersey Group III finalists are returning.
“It broke my heart,” Terry said of the sectional and MCT championship losses. “Considering last year’s team was second in the MCT, second in states, that’s literally my motivation to get these girls ready and win those games.
“Our coaches are fabulous, I’m excited… I’m super excited. I love being able to be on this team, my team is great. I’m excited, I think we can do it. A lot of people have high hopes for us and don’t want to let anyone down. It’s pressure, but pressure is a great thing to have around.”
The pressure is off for Terry in one respect, as she got her college choice taken care of by deciding on Division III power Virginia Wesleyan next year.
The school came to her attention last summer when Terry was in Virginia with her travel team, the 18U Gold Witches.
During a game, she noticed a guy actually recording her during a game. She discovered it was VW coach Brandon Elliott. Up to that point, Terry was being recruited by Wesley in Delaware, and SUNY Canton, which is 20 minutes from the Canadian border.
Suddenly, she had life on the beach as an alternative to the wilds of upstate New York.
“I contacted the coach, gave him my schedule, went down and visited the school and the next week I went down for a clinic,” Terry said. “I saw him down there and he had me pitch and pitch and pitch, and he said ‘You’re coming to our school.’
“I fell in love with the school. I like the beach, and it’s right near the beach. The academics are perfect, and their softball is awesome. Softball was secondary to me to the academics but in this case it worked out perfect.”
Terry will be able to explore the field of Recreation and Leisure studies, which has to do with running camps, working with children and helping them improve. On the softball side of it, the Marlins have won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference title and reached the NCAA Tournament two of the last years, and opened this season with 15 wins in their first 16 games.
“She did a lot of work in the fall figuring out her college choices,” Wilson said. “I know that’s going to relieve a lot of pressure on her this year. She doesn’t have to worry about where she’s going and what she’s doing. With softball, that will allow her to just go out and do her thing her senior year. Who the heck wants to have that pressure on them now? Especially as an athlete. A lot of kids still don’t have it taken care of, so this will definitely help Jamie.”
Terry is a softball lifer. She actually lied her way onto her brother John’s T-Ball team, saying she was the required 4-years-old when she was actually only 3. She played at the YMCA and then moved over to the Hamilton Girls Softball Association.
Jamie was on the HGSA U12 Babe Ruth World Series champion in 2008, playing a bit part as one of the team’s younger players.
“Winning that is something I can still picture right now,” Terry said. “Just the way it felt to win that game. It was an awesome, great experience. I don’t know how to describe it. It was the best experience of my life, I met so many people from all over the country. How many teams can say that?
Terry stayed with HGSA until moving to the Witches in order to be seen by a larger number of college coaches, and the plan worked.
At the high school level, she made varsity as a freshman and her stats improved steadily each year. Last season she hit .361 with 13 RBI, 11 runs and seven extra base hits, while going 7-3 with 29 strikeouts and 16 walks in the circle.
Freshman Kristin Hallam took over much of the pitching duties last year, which Terry had no problem with.
“It didn’t really bother me,” she said. “It was great knowing another person was there to come in and help me out. Sophomore year I had to pitch every single game. It was cool to be able to have an awesome freshman come in.
“She’s doing great things now, working her butt off. It didn’t bother me to be able to play other positions. I’m a softball player. When I’m on the field I’m in my own world, I’m the happiest kid out there. That’s my second home out there, the softball field.”
Terry’s willingness to play elsewhere made things easier for Wilson.
“I give her a lot of credit for that,” the coach said. “I know she’d love to be on the mound all the time but she knows it was for the betterment of the team. That’s what was really great for us at the end of the season. It wasn’t about ‘me me me’ it was about doing what’s good for the team.”
Wilson said that this year, Terry will share the pitching with Hallam and prized freshman Alexis Davidson, and will also play center field and occasionally first base.
“She’ll be doing a lot of pitching, and we’re expecting a lot from her hitting,” the coach said. “She’s going to be in the meat of the lineup, either third or fourth, and I’m excited to watch her. She’s looked really good.”
Terry’s progress since her freshman season has been consistent both offensively and on the mound.
“She’s more patient at the plate now, she has a better eye on the ball with her pitches and knowing the strike zone,” Wilson said. “She’s doing a great job with selecting what pitches to take a swing at.
“Pitching-wise, she’s gotten stronger. She’s really been working on different pitches and now she is able to execute different pitches. She doesn’t have just one or two as her favorite.”
Terry works on her pitches every day, figuring out the spin and how to control each one in a better way. She was predominantly a curveball-screwball pitcher but has worked on a change-up, riser and drop pitch.
“My junk is my favorite stuff,” she said. “I love to get the batters a little mad. What can I say, you gotta get into their heads a little bit.”
As for her goal offensively, Terry says she wants to hit the first home run of her softball career.
“I want to do that, and have an awesome season with these girls,” she said. “I just want to come out and have fun.”
And she can’t wait to do it.
,
