SLCC softball: Best pitching staff ever?

TAYLORSVILLE — It might seem like an idle boast to proclaim to the world on Facebook that your softball team possesses the best pitching staff ever.

Still, when Salt Lake Community College pitcher Jordyn McDonald wrote such a statement on her Facebook page recently, there was plenty of truth to it.

SLCC (59-3) has reigned as the No. 1 softball team in the NJCAA for much of this season after winning its first 39 games, and heads into the NJCAA national tournament in St. George this weekend as the No. 1 overall seed. A big reason why is the talented arms of McDonald and fellow sophomores Sarah Clark and Reilee O'Brien.

You would be hard-pressed to find any junior college team nationally that can match the collective talent of the Bruins' top three pitchers.

"This is the best pitching staff I've ever worked with," O' Brien said. "It's going to be hard to find three pitchers that can understand the game as well as we do."

Their statistics certainly can attest to what O'Brien is saying.

McDonald sports a 29-0 record from the circle. In 35 appearances and 25 starts, she has a 1.42 earned run average and has chalked up 191 strikeouts. Clark is 22-2 in 32 appearances and 26 starts. Her ERA is 1.62, and she has struck out 104 batters. O'Brien, the team's closer, is 8-1 in 42 appearances and 11 starts. She has made four saves, has struck out 87 batters she's faced and owns a 1.80 ERA.

Individually, each one is a talented and dangerous pitcher. Together, they have proven they can lock down virtually any offense SLCC faces.

"All three of us are different," Clark said. "We all have different pitches, and we all have a different look that, I think, just complements each other. A team can't prepare for one thing. They have to prepare for many different things."

One reason the Bruins enjoy such a pronounced edge in pitching over other teams is their equal toughness on the offensive side of things. As a team, SLCC leads its conference in nearly every offensive category.

Individually, Cyd Allen leads the Scenic West Athletic Conference in batting average (.535), slugging percentage (.897), on base percentage (.623) and RBIs (82). She also ranks among the top five in hits (83), runs (63) and home runs (11).

McDonald and Erika James lead the team with 67 runs apiece and also rank in the top five in the Scenic West in that category. McDonald leads the league in doubles (25), and James is the leader in stolen bases with 43 in 45 attempts.