Top photo caption: RBC sophomore pitcher Mackenna Savage came out guns blazing this season with a 0.91 ERA and 82 strikeouts in her first six starts. She only walked 12 batters in 46 innings. Courtesy photo
By Rich Fisher, Contributing Editor
Ask Mackenna Savage if she started out as a good softball pitcher and she offers an answer before the question is barely completed.
“No, I was terrible,” she exclaimed. “My mom actually almost made me stop pitching … It was more during lessons – I didn’t pitch in games yet, but I really could not hit the catcher’s mitt in my lessons.”
Hmm. That could be a problem.
“That is a problem,” she assured.
It may also seem like a fib to Shore Conference hitters this season, as the Red Bank Catholic sophomore has come out blazing in the circle.
Through the Caseys first six games, Savage had a 3-3 record with a 0.91 earned run average and 82 strikeouts in 46 innings. Seven of the 13 runs she allowed were unearned, and the righthander issued just 12 walks. Had RBC been able to score more than one run in two 10-inning losses Savage could have started with a 5-1 mark.
“We’re where we are because of her,” coach Tony Flego said. “We’re able to compete at the levels we want to … We play some teams that are on a little bit of a different level. But she’s gonna keep us in the game, and we just gotta come through for her with the bats.”
The question is, how did she go from a daughter that Stacey Savage wanted to stop pitching into such a force?
“Practice,” she said. “I love pitching. I love going to lessons, I loved when my dad (Morgan) caught me.”
Due to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Mackenna became a pitcher because she had to be involved on every pitch or lose interest. “I also really like being in control of the game as a pitcher,” she said.
Savage began travel ball with her hometown Holmdel Hornets under Stacey, who played for Middletown South. She moved on to the Newtown (Pa.) Rocks, and this summer will play for the high-powered Unity 16U program that will head for tournaments in Georgia, Colorado and California.
She has taken private lessons from highly regarded coach John Schaeffer since her youth.
“His main thing when I started pitching wasn’t speed,” Savage said. “That’s a lot of people’s main goal as a pitching coach now. He really worked on my mechanics of pitching and not hurting my arm.”
As a freshman, Savage threw just 38 innings behind senior Lily Hagen, as RBC continued its rise as a Shore Conference power. She played first base due to her hitting, which produced a .395 average with five doubles, three triples, three homers and 19 RBI.
This year she started with a .262 average but had an impressive .632 slugging percentage.
“She’s an incredible hitter,” Flego said. “She’s got great power, a great swing. She’s not one-dimensional. She’s capable of many great things.”
Due to her travel experience and the innings that she pitched last year, Savage felt confident in her first season as a fulltime starting pitcher.
“I worked very hard for all these moments in high school ball,” she said. “I’m not scared when I get on the mound. I trust myself and I trust my team.”
An early highlight came in a 3-1 loss to Middletown South, when she allowed four hits, no earned runs, no walks and had 22 strikeouts.
“I try not to think about (strikeouts) during the game,” Savage said. “I try to do my thing and whatever happens, happens; but that was kind of crazy.”
The hurler considers herself a groundball pitcher due to the downward movement of her ball, but that’s only if batters can make contact.
“She moves the ball very well, she has great velocity and she spots her pitches,” Flego said of Savage’s strikeout success. “Whatever the catcher (Jayden Kane) calls, they’re on the same page. Those are the three things that a pitcher needs to do to be successful.
“Jayden is one of the best catchers in the Shore. She caught Mackenna in the off-season. They’ve been working hard at it; it’s not like they just showed up in March and started getting on the same page. I’ve never seen anything go on between them in a negative sense, which is very important for a catcher and pitcher.”
One of Savage’s best attributes is her calm demeanor. Flego never sees her get upset on the mound, and that’s part of her attitude.
“I can’t control everything that happens in a game,” she said. “But I can try to control the controllables.”
Off the field she is in her church’s bell choir and volunteers with her mom at the Live Life Unicorn cancer foundation doing fundraisers and toy drives. As for her faith, and that of the team, Savage said, “We pray before every game. We pray for each other.”
In talking about the comfort of having a pitcher like Savage for two-and-a-half more seasons, Flego said simply, “I sleep well.”
