The Lion's Share: Liberty Christian pitcher Karon Earley reaches new heights

By Rick Teverbaugh

Fri, May 16 2008

— Even when there was no need for a pitcher, Liberty Christian’s Karon Earley gravitated to the circle and slab.
Now, as the Lions develop as a team, they are in dire need of a pitcher, and Earley is more than happy to step into that void.
“I’ve been playing softball about as long as I can remember,” said Karon, now a sophomore for the Lions. “Even back to coach’s pitch (where the coach pitches in an effort to give the batter a chance to hit), I would also hang out around the circle.”
She was still very young when the decision was made to get her pitching lessons.
“A girl hit a line drive right back at me,” Karon said. “My mom told me if I was going to keep pitching I would need to get lessons.”
Her mother, Treva, is now the Liberty Christian varsity coach.
“We live right across from Fairview (Park) and we use that diamond to practice,” Treva said. “She likes to get everything perfect. Sometimes I’m ready to be done by 7 or so but she still wants to work. Since I’m her catcher I need to stay with her.”
Karon also practices regularly with Alexandria native Cara Johnson-Hirsch, a softball teacher who has extensive knowledge of the sport.
“She has worked with some Pendleton Heights and Frankton pitchers,” said Treva Earley. “She really knows the ins and outs of pitching.”
Going into this past week’s action, Karon’s stats have been impressive. In just under 39 innings she had 68 strikeouts and a 2.59 ERA. While she is on top of her game, the defense behind her sometimes struggles to catch up. Of the first 38 runs she allowed this season, only 15 were earned.
She is the team’s only pitcher so she logs every inning on the slab. To some that might seem tiresome and discouraging, but not to Earley.
“Pitching is my passion,” she said. “This is really a good situation for me. On some other teams I might pitch every other game but here I get to pitch all of them.”
Her goal right now isn’t to try and blow the ball past the hitters.
“You can’t use just speed,” she said. “Most of the hitters will eventually time that.”
So she uses the change of speed, location and spin to keep hitters off balance. “That’s what I mainly work on is different spins,” Karon said. “I want to be able to throw the ball harder and still keep the spin.”
Her coach is the one who calls the pitches from the dugout. “This year she throws the ball harder than she did last year,” Treva said. “Her change up is really good. We usually discuss pitching between innings. She’ll tell me when a hitter is crowding the plate or moving up in the box.”
Karon keeps mental notes on what got a hitter out previously, whether that was a season ago or as recently as the previous plate appearance.
A summer spent playing the sport helped in Karon’s development as well.
“Two years ago I spent the summer playing travel ball,” she said. “That really made a big difference. But I’m not going to do that again. It took too much time away from my family.”
She is also one of the team’s better hitters, tied for the lead in RBIs on the team with Kate Driskell.
For now she wants to continue to expand her arsenal. “I want to get faster; everybody always wants that,” she said. “But I really think that most of my strikeouts have come on my changeup. I still want to get better with my spins.”
With the regular season in its final weeks the sectional awaits.
“I see this team making progress,” said Treva Earley. “I’m pleased with that. We’re playing better defense and we’re hitting the ball better.” With just four seniors on the roster and four freshmen, it could be that even better days are ahead for this team.

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