PHU leftfielder Heidi Agar may have less to do than any other fielder.
By BOB PUTNAM
Published May 21, 2004
TAMPA - Heidi Agar may have the most boring job in Pinellas County athletics.
As the leftfielder for Palm Harbor University, she spends most games waiting and waiting and waiting for a ball that never comes.
That's what happens when you're on the same team as Dani Hofer, a right-hander who is considered one of the premier power pitchers in the state.
Hofer throws a ball 60 mph, too fast for most hitters to put the bat on it, much less pull one in Agar's direction.
"I guess it can be a little slow out there sometimes," said Agar, a junior. "You just have to be ready."
Agar spent most of Thursday's state semifinal watching Hofer throw.
The junior pitcher was her usual self, mowing down batters with efficiency. Hofer pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out 20 in nine innings to lead the Hurricanes to a 2-0 victory.
"(Hofer) pitched a great game," Agar said. "But that's nothing that I didn't expect. She does so every game."
That left Agar pounding her fist into her glove, waiting, hoping, praying to field a ball. Her moment came in the sixth when Niceville's Samantha Hastings was up. Hastings hit the ball just past the outstretched arms of third baseman Elysha Agen and into leftfield.
Agar scooped up the ball and threw to shortstop Tara Toscano. It was the second hit Hofer allowed.
"That was all the action out there," Agar said.
To stay active, Agar has to wait until she's at the plate. On Thursday, she went 1-for-4.
"Hitting is what I love to do," she said. "That's the most fun."
But even though Agar is stuck in left, Palm Harbor coach Chuck Poetter said she is not a forgotten girl.
"She has to be ready out there," Poetter said. "The way we throw to people, we attack people's weakness. And if a girl ever gets ahold of a ball and hits it out there, we could be in trouble if she's not able to pounce on it."
