Ace shows both sides to lead Jaguars

Kayla Suskauer can act like the eighth-grader she is. She also can act calm in getting hitters out for Academy of the Holy Names.

By SCOTT PURKS
Published March 31, 2005

TAMPA - She is 14 with a soda-pop-fizz giggle.

She also has a cold stare.

The stare kicks in when she bears down on a batter, usually bigger, almost always older.

More often than not, she gets the out.

"We feel great when she's out there," senior team captain Laura Hobson said. "We have confidence in her, and we've watched her confidence grow."

Partly because of this eighth-grader, the entire Academy of the Holy Names softball team has grown more confident.

So who is this kid?

Her name is Kayla Suskauer, a tall, thin girl with a fastball, changeup, drop and riser.

When she isn't pitching, she plays volleyball or goes to the movies on Fridays with friends or studies her favorite subject, math.

And to be honest, she has been plenty nervous before some games, particularly when she took on powerhouse Chamberlain on Saturday afternoon in the Spring Fling tournament.

"I was shaking," she said.

"But," Hobson said, "it didn't show."

It also didn't show that she was fighting a cold, which ran her down in the late innings, forcing coach Al Peacock to take her out. After that, Chamberlain scored a couple of unearned runs in the last two innings to pull out a 5-3 victory.

"Even though it turned out that way, I still gained confidence from that game," Suskauer said. "It was great experience."

Last season, Suskauer got in a few games but was overshadowed by pitcher Jennifer Jacobs, who was among the county's best.

This season, she came in as the ace, and from the first day of practice, Hobson said it was apparent Suskauer had gotten stronger, "in every way."

So far, her highlights include a 7-1 record, 1.58 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 58 innings. One of her best games was a nine-inning, 1-0 victory over St. Petersburg Catholic, in which she struck out 17.

Needless to say, her upside, and the team's upside for that matter, is huge because the roster includes only two seniors.

Suskauer's catcher, for instance, is freshman Becky Vyzas, who is hitting .300. Behind her are underclassman infielders Brittany Villa and Kristina Cruz, who are hitting around .400 with power.

The theme for the team, Peacock said, is "Young and Fun."

"We're not putting any pressure on anybody," he said. "We're just going to play as hard as we can and see what happens. But we're always going to try and enjoy it."

Next week should give an idea of how the philosophy holds up. In five days, Academy plays four district foes, Tampa Catholic, Sarasota Cardinal Mooney, Robinson and St. Petersburg Catholic. The Jaguars (9-2, 6-0 in the district) have beaten all of them, but the games have been close.

"It should be a good challenge," Suskauer said with a rather confident smile and a hint of that giggle.

[Last modified March 31, 2005, 01:28:16]