MADISON TOWNSHIP — Whether in the classroom or on the softball diamond, Liz Sutter is a quick study.
Madison’s speedy senior shortstop took up hitting left-handed in the eighth grade, the reason being she could get down the first base line a split-second faster when exiting the left-handed batter’s box. Sutter has become so proficient at hitting from the port side that she doesn’t even bother swinging from the right side of the plate anymore.
“I actually picked it up pretty quickly,” said Sutter, who carries a 3.514 grade point average and will play softball for Ohio Dominican University in Columbus next year. “It came pretty easy to me.”
Learning to hit from the opposite side of the plate doesn’t normally happen overnight — former Atlanta Braves great Chipper Jones, regarded as one of the best switch hitters of all time, began swinging left-handed when he was 7 years old. To pick it up in roughly four years is largely unheard of.
I’m very comfortable hitting lefty,” said Sutter, the Richland Source Athlete of the Week. “I don’t know if I could even hit right-handed anymore.”
The numbers speak for themselves. In three games last week, Sutter collected six hits in 11 at bats for a team-leading .545 batting average. She leads Madison (2-1) with seven runs scored and ranks second on the team with five runs batted in. Her .583 on base percentage and .818 slugging percentage are tops on the team — not bad for a lead-off hitter.
“She’s not just a slap hitter. She has developed power from the left side,” Madison coach Tim Niswander said. “She has got some pop. She had hit a couple of balls off the fence already this year.”
In Madison’s season-opening 7-5 loss at Bucyrus last week, Sutter tripled and scored a run in the sixth and stroked a two-run double in the seventh. She would come around to score on a Bucyrus throwing error.
The top third of Madison’s lineup is among Richland County’s best. Sutter is the table-setter, followed by junior third baseman Chase Carper and sophomore second baseman Bailey Kiser. The trio is a combined 13-for-31 with 15 RBIs and 14 runs scored. Kiser has a team-best six RBIs, while Carper has driven in four runs and scored four runs.
“We will go as the top of our order goes,” Niswander said. “We have a lot of confidence in all three of them.”
Madison is batting .372 as a team with eight extra-base hits. Junior Katie Mullins, sophomore Alexis Sneed and freshman Alexis Crider all are hitting .444.
“I have been pleased with what we have done offensively, Niswander said. “Liz gets it all going for us.”
As good as Sutter is at the plate, what sets her apart from her peers is her defensive prowess. She hasn’t committed an error in three games this season and is the anchor of Madison’s infield.
“This is her fourth year as a starter. She played second base as a freshman and sophomore and then moved to shortstop last year,” Niswander said. “She is the best defensive player I’ve ever coached.
“She’s a very heady player and she’s our emotional leader. If Liz is having a good day, then we’re all having a good day. If she’s having a bad day, we’re having a bad day.”
The Rams haven’t had many bad days in the past two years. Madison won its first Ohio Cardinal Conference championship last spring and advanced within a game of the Division II state tournament, falling to Granville in the regional championship game at Bucyrus.
Defending its district championship, Madison’s first since 1998, won’t be easy.
“I want us to get even further than we did last year, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work,” Sutter said. “Last year we had one of the best pitchers in the area (Ohio Cardinal Conference Pitcher of the Year Paige Carper). This year we have a freshman, but I think she is doing a really good job.”
Freshman pitcher Paige Whisler has pitched every inning for the Rams this season. She is 2-1 with 2.33 earned run average and 10 strikeouts.
Sutter serves as a leader for the younger players.
“The young girls look up to her,” Niswander said. “It helps to have someone who has been through the battles before.”
It’s a role Sutter is glad to fill.
“I’ve always considered myself a leader,” she said. “I want to set a good example for the younger girls to follow.”
Sutter will follow her older sisters, 2006 Madison graduate Erica and 2008 Madison product Erin, to Ohio Dominican. She also drew interest from Heidelberg and Tiffin.
“I just felt most comfortable with Ohio Dominican,” Sutter said. “My sisters went there and I knew the coach already.”
Before then, Sutter and the Rams want to prove 2013 was no fluke.
“We know how difficult it is going to be to win the OCC championship again. We have got to be ready to play against every opponent,” Sutter said. “It’s a challenge we are looking forward to.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
“This is her fourth year as a starter. She played second base as a freshman and sophomore and then moved to shortstop last year,” Niswander said. “She is the best defensive player I’ve ever coached.
