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Show Page A6 Thursday, April 15, 2004 Times New: Lper Sports Thursday, April 15, 2004 Page A7 1' JfTL' . - i . '7, , i.m i i .. . i. - :Jm i i mumw hi ik r .a-, f - L 1 - - " r --ifly I 4JP , ' LJL. , ... ,. f tw. -St? A- Iff? y 7. 1 1 Ik. iw' ' '.'..'3 V . in 1 J Timpanogos sophomore pitcher Alii Bramwell has been dominating on the mound, racking up 87 strikeouts, but she's still 1 f lit" 'c si'' ' if VP V i I' i j 1. ...... " ? i ' I" " I f - Jj , jMInw t " LANDON OLSON Times Sports Editor There's no indication Alii Bramwell is anything but serious when she talks about what she wants to accomplish - a perfect game with 21 strikeouts. "That's when IH be satisfied. That's the goal I have," she says matter-of-factly. "By the time I graduate, some day I want to do that." ; Her pitching coach, Tim Hill, doesn't even bat an eye at such a lofty goal. "I would normally kind of snicker at that, but not with V I. n TT'll 1 tmi vti ... ner, nm saia. She ll get it. Such a feat would seem improbable, especially from looking look-ing at the pitcher who admits, at 5-foot-l, she doesn't have the usual physical traits associated with someone in her position, nus, ner one real vice seems to fit in well with what would be expected from a 15 (soon to be 16)-year old. She always has to be chewing something. Whether it's sunflower seeds while answering questions or gum during dur-ing play, it helps her vent frustrations and keep busy. But her favorite is blowing bubbles. l love to blow bubbles. I can blow a bubble inside of a bubble," she says. "It just entertains me. She' even a real connoisseur when it comes to bubble gums. "Bubblicious. I always chew Bubblicious," Alii said. "Lately I've been chewing Big League Chew, but it's really soft so on hot days it kind of starts to melt, but bubblicious Is my favorite. " But gum isn't the only thing she knows about. Alii also happens to know a little bit about softball and what she wants to accom-s accom-s plish. And if games this season are any indication, Alii has what it takes to reach her eoals. Just a sophomore, Alii has started on the mound in 11 of Timpanogos' 14 games this season, compiling an 8-3 record and racking up 87 strikeouts. One of her more impressive perform ance came against uintan, wnen she struck out 11 straight bat ters, nmsnea witn 14 stnKeouts and no walks, and only gave up two hits in the victory. lhose are solid numbers for any pitcher, but for an unknown sophomore, when other pitchers in negion vii were getting much more attention, they look all the more impressive. Playing since she was little. Alii savs she started pitching in third grade, but wasn't very good so she auit. In eighth grade she started pitching again, and seeing a friend of her sister start varsity as a freshman fresh-man inspired Alii. "I thought that was so cool so that kind of made me want to become a pitcher," she said. While she didn't start, she was the backup pitcher and .TV starter last season before taking center stage this year. But her quick rise wasn't any surprise to the Timberwolf coachintr staff. "Nobody really saw Alii last year as our JV pitcher, said head coach Randy Richins. "They assumed we weren't going to have anything coming back because we lost our senior pitcher and had a sophomore pitcher coming up. And we like it that way. We wanted to be able to sneak up on people." With Alii on the mound, the Timberwolves have done just that, but it didn't did-n't happen overnight. It's been eight months of hard work, long practice sessions ses-sions and more than a little bit of frustration. Starting last summer, Alii began working with Hill, throwing a minimum of 150 pitches a day, at least three days a week. Sometimes it was early morning, sometimes it was Saturday, but Hill said Alii would never miss a practice and often called to make sure they would be practicing. r "These kids would come sleenv-evpd i JTJ J J vaxjaa K cum Llli kj vy hard for a couple of hours," Hill said. "She's absolutely amazing from a commitment standpoint. "We knew she had an incredible talent. The unknown was how hard she was willing to work. I'm just absolutely amazed at the focus, the determination and the commitment that she's had over that eight months," he said. Once the season started, she's kept that focus, not even missing a single sin-gle practice. Richins moved the time back to 5 p.m. to give the players time to rest and get there home work done after school, hopefully returning return-ing refreshed. It's worked for Alii and allows her to get everything done while still putting put-ting in plenty of practice time. "Everything focuses around softball. And I know that's why she has so much success because of that mindset she has," Richins said. While there still is room for some improvement, Hill says the strides Alii aas tasen nave Deen nuge. Just the differences in the practice drills show that. Hill runs through a drill where he gives the pitchers three pitches to hit two spots, and does that for five rotations. It started start-ed off taking Alii nearly three hours to do that. By the end, she could do it in 30 minutes because j iiiivxv WV i UUUVU XVi fill A 1 1 V11 m . ... . . men, to ena practice, tun makes his pitchers finish with 30 strikes. It was taking 50 or more pitches to do that initially, by the end Alii was able to do it in 30 straight. And it's that repetition over eight months of practice that's comxiDutea so much to Alii become deadly accurate it if I'm that desDerate." Alii savs. "It's all in the rpn- Ving the past eight months, I wouldn't be close to "These kids would come sleepy-eyed, dragging their feet and throw hard for a couple of hours. She's absolutely amazing from a commitment standpoint." Tim Hill Timpanogos pitching coach get the strike and let them hiJ etition. It 1 hadn t been throj whprp T am nnw I Her accuracy also helps to relieve a little bit of the stress from the coaches. Hill says there are two situations every pitching coach fears: Being down in the count and having to call a change-up and hoping it works. With Alii, though, those kinds of things don't make him think twice, and her skill even lets him use more strategy than normal. "The biggest thing this year for me is that I can call a change on a full count with complete confidence it's going to go in," he said. "We can get down three balls and no strikes and we're 90 percent sure we're going to get a strikeout. And I'm not used to that." Part of that also comes from the changes that have taken place in Alli's mind. A sophomore thrust into the role of a starter, no matter how excited and ready she thinks she is, it's bound to be difficult. Just as it was in Alli's case. She said she was scared when she started and was lacking lack-ing confidence, but quickly realized she wouldn't be affective with that kind of mindset. "I realized if I'm scared of the batter, that's not good," she said. "You've just kind of got to put your game face on when you walk on the field. I know that I'm in control because I'm the one who starts with the ball. I choose where it goes." That attitude and mindset is also one of Alli's traits her coaches really like, although like everything else, it's taken time to develop. "I go back eight months ago, we had lots of days with mitts being thrown across the gym and all kinds of different things," Hill said. But now, things don't even bother her. Sure, she feels like it's completely her fault if the other team scores, or she gets in a jam, but she doesn't let it affect how she plays the rest of the game. "I think about it for about two seconds, then I have to shake it off because if I sit and dwell on it the whole game will go down the drain. So I shake it off, forget about it," she said. Just shake it off and forget about it. Not something a lot of players, especially at a young age, can do. But that just shows another facet of what makes Alii such a solid player. Richins said he sees the mental toughness as one of Alli's best strengths. Not only is she tough, though, but serves an example to the other players, especially the T-wolves freshman pitcher Tajia Law. "She's developing the same mental toughness and I know that's because of the time she's spent with Alii," -Richins said. "She's trying to emulate AUi, which is a good thing." Hill said of Alii, "I'd say if there are any young pitchers out there looking for a - ,c 1 1 " f f ' Or : yi 't' r S 1 I ' " ' , , - : ' ' i ' I ,'' t - - - U . - v ; ? ' V- jH .. . 2. ' "' ' ' Jf ' - .-r.V . . 1 X, i ' ' ' ;t : - -r LZ - 7- I ,,011! " ' . . . : r s --r7. . !-'! "j. . , k 1 fVv,y;- - . 5-.. . ' ; -. - -" : . . . "I can get up there and if all else fails thrown an off-speed and Alii Bramwell fields a bunt during a home game earlier this season. Not only Is she strong on the mound, but solid In the field and at the plate. , photos by Landon Olson 77me.v Newspaper AW Bramwell attempts to lay down a bunt during a non-region game against Uintah. A right-handed thrower, Bramwell taught herself how to hit from the left side so she'd be closer to first base and better able to utilize her speed. role model, this would be a good one." Being a role model, or at least a star, doesn't seem to be what Alii had planned on, though. She doesn't keep track of her strikeouts during a game, or even her stats after, and seems shocked at the attention she's earning herself. Her shyness seems to hide some of what she's really feeling, but her face doesn't, especially when her coaches start heaping praise on her. She shakes her head when they say she should be a role model. She turns red, pops a few more sunflower seeds in her mouth and tries to look away, embarrassed to think it's her they're talking about being such a great example of a perfect athlete. It's that reaction right there that shows it's playing that's important for Alii. It's that reaction that makes you hope she reaches succeeds in reaching her goals. And still, despite her quiet protests, Hill isn't done heaping on the praise. "The dedication, the focus, the passion... as a high school athlete looking at playing play-ing sports, she does everything she needs to do to qualify herself for that," he said. "Years later when all this is over and I remember Alii, Fll remember two words. 'One more. One more.' And well be there another half hour. She just can't stop. She just loves it. She won't quit until she gets the absolute perfect pitch. And shell get it." Still, for as far as she progressed, she didn't know what was going to happen when she took the mound that first time. Not having practice against live batters, for all she knew they were going to be all over her that first game. Instead of worrying, wor-rying, though, she just goes out and throws. And so far, it's got the job done somewhat to Alli's surprise. But, despite her early success, AUi says it's not coming quick enough because she isn't yet satisfied with how she's playing. "Every game isn't my all," she said. "I'm not there 100 percent every game. In my mind I just want to be on top, but I'm not quite there yet." She's still got plenty of time for that, though, with two years of high school ahead of her. And, with her consistency as a basis, she already has plans for ways to improve. "My goal used to be speed," she said. "I wanted to get faster and faster. Now I realize I just want to make my ball move." Like everything else about their star pitcher, Richins and Hill don't harbor a doubt about Alli's ability to make those improvements. And Hill says he's starting to share those same goals - he wants Alii to get what she wants, and won't be happy either until he sees her do it. "This young lady will be satisfied with absolutely nothing short of absolute perfection," per-fection," he said. "And she wont' stop until she gets that, and that's what's going to make her not just really good, but great." But perfection isn't here yet, and there's even one area she admits she needs to work harder - her hitting. Although she throws right handed, she bats from the left, giving her the advantage of starting two steps closer to first base and being able to use her speed. Last year she primarily attempted to bunt, but this year is swinging more and plans to even try to learn to slap hit by next season - if she can find a time she isn't throwing. Not that her coaches can find fault with her hitting, or anything else for that matter There's nothing that I'm unhappy about with what she's doing," Richins said. "She's pitching well, she's fielding well, she's helping us in helping herself at the bat. I think that she's doing everything that we hoped." Which is really all that any coach can really ask for, is for a player to do everything every-thing they had hoped. And in the process, she's not just improving herself as a player, but also as a person. "It's not only a game, it's not only a pastime, but it's a life skill now," Hill said. "The mental toughness, the things she's learned, the focus, the determination, it's playing out in her life too. I'm impressed with it." It also bring up the potential to open doors in the future. While she still has plenty of high school left, she says she'd love to play in college, but if not, it's not the end of the world. Besides, she says she doesn't know what she even wants to do when she grows up. Then coach Hill quietly reminds her that it's because she isn't grown up yet. So now she's just going keeping working toward her goals and try to improve. But all that hard work and determination to be successful are just underlying factors fac-tors in why Alii plays. And she sums it up pretty good. "I like to have fun, so you might as well have fun why you're out there, because if not, then why do you play?" Of course, itH even be more fun for when she gets those 21 strikeouts and knows she was at her best. And more importantly, knows she found perfection. AUi Bramwell Personal Name: Allison Bramwell Nickname: Alii Height: 5-foot-1 Age: 15 Birthday: April 19, 1988 Parents: John and Suzanne Siblings: Three older, one younger Favorite gum: Bubblicious Favorite color: Pink Key Stats School: Timpanogos High Class: Sophomore Sport: Softball Position: Pitcher Starts: 11 Record: 8-3 Strikeouts: 87 Walks: 16 3 ERA: less than 1 .00 Team record: 9-5 Ask her coaches or parents and they'll agree: Alii Bramwell is a hard worker. Softball consumes her life and she's working hard to succeed. Ask Alji and, while shell probably also , agree that she's put in some hard work, the answer won't come as quickly or in so many words. It's not because she doesn't like to talk, but she's just a little bit shy. That shyness hides something though a good personality and a great heart, says Alli's mom, Suzanne. "She's a delightful kid. She makes me laugh Suzanne said. Aside from softball, Alii does the typical teenager stuff. She hangs out with friends, likes to be outside and rides her scooter. Her mom says she's also a great shopper, especially espe-cially when it comes to finding bargains. And, of course, Alii is looking forward to driving on her own. Still only 15, Alii turns 16 Monday and gets her license. And shell also get to date, her mom laughs. Based on the motto Alii and her family follow, fol-low, though, it's no surprise she's working hard and succeed. "We can do hard things," is the idea Suzanne says they try to follow, and for Alii, it's been working. While being a youngster and not knowing what to expect when she began starting varsity var-sity for the first time, her mom says, "Now we know better." Especially after dealing with the stress of sitting through some of the games. Look at Alii on the mound though and there's not a hint of tension. Tm impressed on how she can focus," Suzanne said. That doesn't mean Alii doesn't feel it, thoughAfter games she'll reflect on what went right or wrong, and work through it. But she's got some help there. She uses her dad, John, as a sounding board and can also talk to her brother, Jace. A multi-sport athlete at Timpanogos, Jace has been through what Alii is going through and can lend support and advice, Suzanne says. That's not the only thing she gets from her siblings though. She also picked up gum chewing from her older sister. And it's not just while she's on the mound. Suzanne says Alii is almost always chewing come. Alii says it helps her relieve the tension and gives her a way to work out her frustration. Whatever it does, though, it helps keep everything fun. And that's all Alii really wants to be out having fun. is . . I l. . ill! . o . - r '7 s 1 POOR COPY |