Verdun is Herald's Softball Player of the Year

Coal City's Kirsten Verdun struck out 447 and posted a 31-3 record as Coal City placed third in the state in Class 2A this year.
michael r. schmidT/staff photographer

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Talk is cheap, or so the saying goes, but Coal City High School pitcher Kirsten Verdun made her conversations with junior catcher Krista Watson pay off better than the stock market.

Several times a game -- sometimes, it seemed, several times an inning -- the junior left-hander would greet the masked Watson midway by covering part of her face with her glove. Information flowed back and forth like a river, begging an observer's obvious question.

What in the world was up?

"Umm, to be honest, I'm a very loud talker," Verdun said with a laugh. "Krista always jokes around with me -- like, 'Your whisper is louder than most people talking.' I've tried to be not as loud, and I'm also trying to make sure that they can't see what I'm trying to say.

"And a lot of times when I'm pitching, I end up out of the circle, so I'm that much closer to the batter. When she comes out to talk to me, I'm only five or six feet away from the batter. I really have to make sure that they can't see what I'm saying to her."

However, putting cloak-and-dagger stuff aside, the truth of the matter concerning Verdun's ascension as the 2009 Herald News Softball Player of the Year turned very transparent in the end.

She had nothing to hide.

"Exactly," Verdun said, nodding excitedly in agreement. "Krista just blames it on my inability to whisper."

Teddy Roosevelt became famous for his diplomatic theory of speaking softly and carrying a big stick. An automatic ace, Verdun spoke as loudly on the mound as in the box, carrying a .500-plus stick and smashing opponents' aluminum bats into balsa.

As rare as a spring without rain, Verdun qualified as a member of the Herald News' 25-player all-area first team both as a pitcher and as a hitter. For effect, she also was named to the girls basketball all-area first team this winter.

"I think her biggest thing is she's such a competitor," Coal City coach Brad Schmitt said. "When you're a competitor, you have the fire in your eyes game in and game out, and that helps a little bit as well. She knows how to fight through because she's a competitor."

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Just like the aforementioned in-game conversations between Verdun and Watson, talk about the DePaul University recruit begins with her pitching exploits. She finished 11-1 as a sophomore in her varsity debut, striking out 109 in 70 innings with a 0.60 ERA.

That not only earned her second team all-area recognition, it served notice like a 100-mph laser by Andy Roddick. With the loss of Katie Crawford to North Central College, Verdun realized she would receive the ball considerably more from Schmitt -- and she relished the chance.

By the latter stages of the season, Verdun's victims could not figure out the difference between ketchup and mustard. She went 31-3 with 447 strikeouts and a 0.32 ERA in 241 innings, allowing a mere 72 hits, 58 walks and 11 earned runs. Finally, she struck out 13 in a 1-0 win for third place in Class 2A.

All part of the master plan.

"Ever since I was 10 years old, I've wanted to play softball in college," Verdun said. "That was a huge goal I set. But as I got older, I've watched girl after girl stop working after they got their scholarship. That was what they wanted and they were done. Me and my dad have talked, and that's not what I want."

Indeed, Verdun's father Brad played college football at Indiana State. Schmitt played wide receiver and free safety on Coal City's undefeated 2A football state champions in 1993. Her "Brad" influence has been "Bad" as in good.

"We knew Kirsten was going to be a big impact player," Schmitt said. "We knew she was a player who could keep our program going in the right direction. She's done everything we've asked of her and more, and hopefully, these younger kids are looking at her as a role model."

"I'm not OK with just going to college," Verdun said. "I want to make an impact there. I've watched the college World Series since I was 12 and I want to be there. I've watched those girls every year and they still have fun, but they compete. That's what I want to do. I want to impact that program and help my team win a national championship."

One of her heroes, former Player of the Year Samantha Findlay of Lockport, led Michigan to the 2005 national title. Verdun also listed Cat Osterman, Monica Abbott and Jennie Finch as favorites.

"What I want to work for, what I've always worked for, is I know you can get better," Verdun said. "I'm not the type of person to settle with where I am at. I'm always trying to get better and better."

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Yes, talk about her pitching because everyone else does. Still, Verdun batted third in the Coalers' top-heavy order and exploded like an atomic bomb, hitting a monstrous .528 (57-for-108) with 39 runs, 16 doubles, a triples, 6 homers and 42 RBIs. Her 22 walks boosted the engine of a .644 on-base percentage.

A year earlier, Verdun batted .375 with 30 hits, 17 runs, 10 doubles, a homer and 22 RBIs. Good numbers. To underscore her development, though, Verdun batted at an 8-of-16 clip in the final six games of this year's playoffs, with 5 doubles, 4 walks, 4 runs and 3 RBIs.

"Offensively, I think about the postseason and the number of hits and RBIs, and believe me, she's not seeing the best of pitches," Schmitt said. "She's making the most of what she gets up there, and she came up with key RBIs in almost every game we played."

Likewise, playing 251 innings of Coal City's games, Verdun delivered a .996 fielding percentage. She committed 2 throwing errors, terrific if considering the context of 465 assists and 35 putouts.

All part of the game plan.

"I understand that defense comes first," Verdun said. "Coach Schmitt always tells us, 'You may have an 0-for-4 game, but that doesn't mean you should have 4 errors.' As a team, you should always think defense first, and pitchers get more of the credit for that."

Speaking of credit, Verdun passed the praise toward Watson because "we mesh so well together. We want the same things -- we're aggressive and competitive. We want to go after hitters." And hitters had to be befuddled.

"She has a number of pitches as her 'out' pitches," Schmitt said. "She doesn't have just one. She can get you on a rise, on a drop, on a changeup, she can jam you or she can get it right by you with a fastball. She's a pitcher who can freeze you on 0-2 when you're looking for a rise and she'll put it at your knees."

After tearing an ACL in her knee as a freshman, Verdun recovered from that and a bout with illness for another step in the Coalers' state title pursuit.

"It really was a great experience," she said. "We spent a lot of time together, we made T-shirts and we had a lot of fun together. You put 15 girls together in a room, they'll find ways to have fun. And by placing third instead of fourth, our seniors went out on a good note."

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Teammates walk the walk and talk the talk. During postgame interviews, Verdun's teammates were numb about her accomplishments, similar to how Steve Kerr or John Paxson would react after Michael Jordan's performances.

"She's got it, you know?" sophomore second baseman Bryanna Phelan said after Coal City's 8-0 sectional semifinal win over Spring Valley Hall. "She's great."

"Kirsten pitched a great game," Watson said, straight and to the point in the aftermath of the Coalers' 1-0 win over Momence for the sectional title.

In 2010, Schmitt confirmed that "she's going to get the ball the majority of the time and we're going to put it in her hands again." Of course, that means a followup question-and-answer session.

What in the world can she do next?

She hides nothing.

"I'm not going to take a year off," Verdun said. "I think a lot of people take it for granted, when they have a year like mine, and they stop working. Hard work is what got me here and I'm not going to stop. I need to get better because I don't think you can ever be good enough."