Slap Happy
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| Anna Phillips set Bureau Valley school record with .586 batting average this spring, led area with 41 hits, 19 stolen bases; earned ISCA Second-Team All-State, and TRAC-9 First-Team honors; BV single-season record holder with 50 hits, 32 stolen bases; earned BCR Co-Player of the Year in 2010 and sported a career .504 (109-216) batting average at BV. She will play softball at Trinity Christian College. |
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MANLIUS — Bureau Valley’s Anna Phillips is not a big and intimidating physical presence at 5 feet 3 inches tall and 130 pounds. But don’t let that fool you — when she gets in the batter’s box, opposing pitchers and coaches alike can get a little scared.
The Storm Sultan of Slap-hitting has never met a pitcher she didn’t think she could hit. And she’s got the numbers to back it up — a Bureau Valley school record batting average of .586 this spring with 41 hits, the area leader in both categories. Once on base, Phillips was a constant threat with her speed, swiping an area-best 19 stolen bases while tallying 27 runs. All that, while locking down the outfield with her range and softball acumen in center field, a five-tool set that earned her ISCA All-State second-team and Three Rivers Conference first-team honors.
For her performance this spring for the Storm, which enjoyed a school record 15-8 campaign, Phillips is the 2011 BCR Softball Player of the Year. It is her second-straight year receiving the award after splitting the honor with St. Bede’s Brittany Burgess and Princeton’s Taylor Williams last year as a junior.
Business as usual
Once inside the chalk lines Phillips is all business. She will do whatever it takes to succeed — like the switch she made to bat left-handed entering her sophomore year to better take advantage of her blazing speed. It was not an easy transition, but thousands of reps in the batting cage have nearly perfected Phillip’s slap-hitting technique, and given her supreme confidence in the batter’s box.
“I don’t worry about the pitchers,” Phillips said. “I look at where I’m at in the count ... I don’t really worry too much about what pitchers throw ... It’s more that if I’m ahead I’m looking off-speed and stuff like that. It’s nice to know what pitchers can throw — but I don’t worry about them too much.
“I try to practice all my routines enough in practice, so that when I get up to the plate; it’s natural and I don’t have to think too much. I walk into the box, call time and kind of twirl my bat a couple times — then I set up.”
With the ink dry on a letter of intent to play at Trinity Christian College and successful junior campaign in the rear-view mirror, Phillips said she was at ease coming into her senior season.
“Last year was a good confidence builder for me. My batting had gone way up from my sophomore year,” said Phillips, whose off-season dedication led to her raising her average from .346 to .532 between her sophomore and junior campaigns. “It took a lot a pressure off me at the plate.”
A family tradition
With Phillips and her younger sister, Emily, a sophomore first-team All-BCR pick who hit .398 this spring, setting the table in the No. 1 and 2 slots, all the pressure was on opposing defenses whenever they encountered the top of the BV lineup.
“I love playing with Emily; it’s really great. It’s great to be able to work with her and support her. To see her succeed is just wonderful because I know the work she puts in; I see the hours she puts in,” Phillips said.
Softball is a family tradition of sorts for the Phillips girls, who hone their skills during the off-season in the Bureau County Blaze ASA program, which Anna credits with greatly aiding her development as a player.
So while Anna and her .504 (109-216) career batting average, just .012 points off being the 20th best all-time in IHSA history, will definitely be hard to replace, Storm coach Brian Humphrey has a few potential candidates waiting in the wings as BV continues to build a winning program.
“I have at least two more sisters coming through the BV softball program. It’s good to know that it’s just going to keep building,” said Phillips, who along with Emily also has younger sisters, Ashley and Laura, both currently in junior high and eyeing careers with the Storm.
“Emily has a chance to beat all my records, and I know my younger sisters do too,” said Phillips, who set school single-season marks at BV with 50 hits and 32 stolen bases last spring. “And then I have a 2-year-old sister. But that may be a while; we don’t know what she’s into yet.”
The next level
While Phillips will have a rooting interest in the Storm for many years to come, next year she will focus her considerable talents at Trinity Christian, where she will study business and suit up for the Trolls’ softball squad. Humphrey said that Phillips’ work ethic and physical tools should help her excel in softball at the next level.
“I don’t think there’s too many players in the area who outwork Anna; she’s hitting all winter long. She’s really dedicated to softball,” said Humphrey. “She works hard on her slapping, and in practice, she’s so diligent. She really puts the time in to be successful.”
“I think she’s going to be very successful at the next level. I think they’re getting almost a Division I ball player at Trinity, and they don’t know it,” said Humphrey.
Phillips is looking forward to playing at the collegiate level but hopes she can keep softball in her life much longer than the next four years.
“I want to do something inside of softball (for a career). I understand the doors for playing are getting smaller and smaller, but I’d love to coach — whether younger kids starter, or the college level. I want to be involved with softball no matter what,” Phillips said.
“I don’t think I’m going ever going to be able to step away from it totally,” Phillips said.
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