The Times-Delphic

Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Becky Hansen Throw with all your might - Brynne Dordel (B1) throws a pitch against Creighton Tuesday afternoon in a double header. Dordel is the starting pitcher for the Drake softball team. She was named Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the week for March 20-23. She was the first Drake pitcher to receive the honor in almost a year.

Drake Relays runners will sprint and leap across the track this week, but the Drake softball team has been rounding the bases for months. The help of Brynne Dordel (B1) has led them in 13 of 18 victories this season.

"A pitcher is someone who can really make a difference," said Head Coach Rich Calvert. "So far she has performed the best of all of them."

Dordel has pitched 118 innings and struck out 137 batters, catching 35 of them looking. Clavert said her work ethic is impressive.

"She's striving to be great," Calvert said. "She has a willingness to get better and is never satisfied at where she's at."

Dordel said she is learning from every game she pitches. One memorable moment was when she played in her home state of Minnesota.

"We played in the Metrodome against Oklahoma; they had some really good hitters," Dordel said. "That game helped me become a better pitcher because I learned what I could and couldn't do as a college pitcher."

Dordel said transitioning from high school to college softball has been a challenge.

"In high school, you can get away with not putting the pitch in the right place, but not in college," Dordel said.

Dordel, who is an accounting and actuarial science major, said being on the road so much has been overwhelming at times because she has had to miss class.

"We played the first 25 games away because it was so cold here," Dordel said. "There were times at the beginning of the semester where I didn't even bother to unpack."

Dordel first began playing softball as a little girl when her father coached her team. She learned to love the sport during high school after having to sit out because of a stress fracture in her back.

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