Junior pitcher Kelcie McGraw wears No. 13 for Lockport, but she has been far from unlucky.
With an impressive array of pitches, including a knee-buckling screwball, she has been able to handle opposing hitters with relative ease this season for the Porters.
That impresses her catcher, senior Brooke Keltner, who has the best seat in the house.
“Her screwball is always her go-to pitch,” Keltner said. “She loves it. Her curveball is always working — up, down, in, out all day. Her change-up will come in and throws them off guard.
“She knows how to get the job done.”
McGraw got the job done right from the start Thursday afternoon, striking out the first seven batters she faced in a 6-1 SouthWest Suburban Blue victory over host Sandburg in Orland Park.
In the end, McGraw finished with 10 strikeouts for the Porters (13-7, 5-3), who put up four insurance runs in the seventh, highlighted by a three-run homer by Keltner. She went 2-for-4.
Sandburg (12-6, 4-4) rallied in its half of the inning with three hits, including an RBI single from sophomore second baseman Olivia Trunk. Senior outfielder Grace Fuller went 2-for-3 with a run.
“Screwball, rise, curveball — I mean, good pitchers have those pitches all the way around,” Lockport coach Marissa Chovanec said of McGraw. “I think (her screwball) just had some good movement. The wind was good for it. It was a good crosswind.
“The ball jumps a little bit more when there is a good crosswind.”
McGraw (10-4), a Colgate recruit, has been playing softball since age 5. It wasn’t long until she started pitching, but by eighth grade she decided to take a year off and play other positions.
But by the time she started high school, she was back pitching and all in. It’s pretty simple why.
“I like having the feeling of the game, of being in control,” McGraw said.
The screwball helped her in that regard Thursday as she took a no-hitter into the fourth inning.
“It’s a nasty pitch,” Keltner said. “It starts in and just keeps going in. Batters think it’s too inside or they’ll swing and jam themselves, a little pop-up or a little dribbler. Easy outs for our defense.”
Lockport’s Kelcie McGraw (13) delivers a pitch against Andrew during the Class 4A Lockport Regional championship game on Friday, May 26, 2023. (Steve Johnston / Daily Southtown)
To hear McGraw tell it, it sounds almost surgical.
“I was able to control it and go in at the knees and then bring it up to their hands, so it was easy throwing them off by just throwing the same pitch,” she said.
As a pitcher, every other teammate on the field is looking to McGraw to set the tone and the pace of a game. That’s her form of leadership.
It has been honed since her freshman season, her first on varsity.
“I was the youngest on the team and didn’t know what to do,” McGraw said. “And then last year, I took control and this year I carried it over.”
There’s that word again. Control of her pitches, of opposing hitters, and ultimately, of the game. Chovanec said McGraw is averaging 10 strikeouts a game.
Here’s the funny thing. Chovanec, who was a catcher in college and calls pitches for McGraw, has seen her be just as dominant in other outings. So in a way, she has come to expect it.
“She’s doing a good job, staying in command of her pitches,” Chovanec said of McGraw. “And we’re communicating so we can stay in sync.”
McGraw said she has a unique way of keeping up with her burgeoning strikeout totals.
“My grandpa texts me after every game, ‘You averaged two strikeouts every inning,’ so that’s what I kind of get used to,” she said. “The first seven, I was kind of like, ‘Oh, that was nice.’”
Gregg Voss is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
