Softball: Rock Falls' Michaela Ward pitches into history

Along school year gave way to weekly ASA summer softball commitments, and Michaela Ward was exhausted. She might have still been asleep if it weren’t for this interview early Thursday afternoon.

Instead, the Rock Falls softball player stood on the Rockets’ gravelly, ant-hill covered softball diamond near the pitching circle and dug-up pitching rubber with a camera pointed at her.

“It only rained for, like, 2 seconds today,” said Ward, her voice trailing off as she posed for another photo. The forecast called for rain, but the sun was burning away the clouds. “I would probably be sleeping on a day like this, but I kind of want to go swimming.”

Her straightened hair was locked in a battle with the blowing wind, and took off in every direction with each gust.

Through a combination of angles and matting down her hair, she eventually won the battle, just as she had done all season in the circle and, really, her entire career.

For one last time, the Rockets’ ace stood on the field where she dominated opponents. Only this time, she wasn’t in cleats and a jersey, but black sandals and a T-shirt.

She didn’t have a batter to strike out or a run to bat in, and instead allowed memories to flood back to her.

Recent memories have a way of finding their way to the top of the pile, and SVM’s softball player of the year was taken back to the final game of her high school career, a 1-0, 11-inning loss to Mendota in the first game of the postseason.

Whether she liked it or not, and she didn’t, that memory will stay with her for a while.

“Ugh,” she said. “That one still stings.”

To describe Ward’s performance that game as anything short of masterful would be a crime. The right-hander struck out 20 batters in the 3A regional semifinal, breaking a school record for strikeouts in a single game in the process.

She picked up three of her team’s eight hits, but the Rockets couldn’t find a way to score.

“We had something like 12 hits,” Rockets coach Kris Nunez said. “I have no idea how we didn’t score a run. We win that game nine times out of 10.”

No matter the outcome, Ward didn’t get cheated. Not once in her 4 years.

She feels confident saying she left Rock Falls knowing that she gave everything she had into every season, every batter, every pitch – even every block, which ended with Ward tumbling to the hardwood during her first volleyball season.

Ward, then a freshman, wanted to make a play and laughs when trying to describe what she was thinking. She rose up during practice and attempted to block former Rock Falls standout athlete Jordan Giddings’ vicious kill, but the force of the shot caused Ward to land awkwardly.

Her knee felt funny, but she played on it for 2 weeks before finally seeking medical attention.

It was a torn ACL.

“Basically the doctor took one look at my knee and said I needed surgery,” Ward said. “They said I needed it like tomorrow. An ACL takes about 9 months to heal, and I was worried I was going to miss softball. I wasn’t going to let that happen.”

She hit her physical therapy hard and made it back in time for the softball season. Nunez called Ward up to the varsity squad 2 weeks into the season, and varsity ball became her home.

“She was a varsity player from the start,” Nunez said. “You could tell, even a young Michaela had college softball written all over her. It was part of her vocabulary. She had a goal, and we needed someone like that playing on varsity.”

What sets Ward apart is her ability to set goals, and compartmentalize enough to track down those goals and see it through.

She happened upon the Rock Falls strikeout record one day during her junior year. She remembers envisioning her name sitting atop the list, and printed off the sheet.

Ward took it home and showed her parents.

“I wanted to get that,” Ward said. “My parents acted like parents, being supportive, but telling me not to get my hopes up too high.”

Ward nodded and agreed with her parents, but mentally she was already pressing the gas pedal. She knew that number was in reach, and she was going to do everything to reach it.

She had worked with pitching coaches since she was 8 years old, and has worked with Sterling softball coach Becki Edmondson for the past 8 years, and still works with her now.

Nunez described her and Edmondson’s relationship as “strange” with a cross-town rival coaching her top pitcher in the offseason. But it was with Edmondson where Ward fine-tuned her pitches, shifting from focusing on speed, to working on putting spin on the ball.

“I remember telling Becki one day, ‘You created this beast,’ “ Nunez said.

Ward said her sophomore year was when she took a big step in developing pitches. She started to display a good command of a devastating riseball, sharp curve and a changeup.

The new arsenal of pitches not only put pressure on opposing hitters, but on the Rockets catchers who had to handle the pitches.

“It was really fun working with Michaela,” Rock Falls catcher Madason Shaw said. “I’ve learned a lot about hitting from catching her. Anyone can eventually time speed, but it’s harder to hit when the ball is moving everywhere, and that’s what Michaela did.

“She rarely missed her spots, and if we were having a bad defensive game, she stepped up and took care of us with strikeouts. She’s a really nice pitcher.”

Ward perfected her riseball to the point where it had late movement, and racked up the strikeouts.

She began lifting weights during that career-changing sophomore year, and discovered that she can be successful by using her entire body while throwing. Her improved motion put less strain on her arm, and the thin Ward generated enough power to blow pitches past hitters. Her success grew, and the strikeout record soon became in reach.

She didn’t let on that she was going for it. She had a team-first attitude, and reserved spots in her mind for her personal goals, and instead acted on team goals.

“That’s the thing about Michaela,” Nunez said. “I feel like this might be a cliche thing to say, but she really did what’s best for the team.

“She pitched fewer innings this season, and not once would you hear about it from her. She’s special in a way that she understands the bigger picture, maybe more so than a typical teenager.”

Ward pitched 142 innings this season, which was third in the area. But her 255 strikeouts led the area by 60, with the next closest being Amboy’s Karlee Doege (195).

She graduated Rock Falls with four program records, including career strikeouts with 718, single-season strikeouts (255) which she earned in the 2015 season, career wins (54) and career innings (480).

Ward will continue her pitching career at Kankakee Community College. She will be entering a successful program, as the Cavaliers won the NJCAA Division II softball national championship this year.

“I had a coach tell me that if I wanted to play in college I had to get serious,” Ward said. “When I heard him say that, softball shifted from being just fun, to a competitive game where I could keep playing long after some other kids stop.”

Michaela Ward file

School: Rock Falls

Future plans: Will pitch at Kankakee Community College next season

Parents: Lowell and Dona Ward.

Siblings: Sisters – Alyx, Nicole. Brother – Brandon

FYI: Set four school records in career strikeouts (718), single season strikeouts (255), career wins (54), career innings (480).