Lady Whitecaps looking to dominate

GALVESTON — Chastity Skipper already can tell the difference.

The Galveston College catcher even smiles when she talks about it.

Skipper, who graduated from Texas City, thinks the Whitecaps pitching has the ability and depth to help lead Galveston College deep into the postseason.

“We have three pitchers with all kinds of different pitches that can work on any given night,” Skipper said. “For most teams, that’s a luxury they don’t have. It’s exciting to think about the possibilities.”

Coach Ken Delcambre agrees with his catcher’s assessment.

“This is by far the deepest pitching staff we’ve had in years,” he said.

The scary part is that the Whitecaps were pretty good last year. They went 37-23 and advanced to the regional finals, where they fell to Blinn in a 1-0 heartbreaker.

And though they lost eight players from 2009’s squad, expectations are high, especially with a three-headed monster pitching staff of Sarah Shotton, Lori Earl and Rebekah Ragsdale.

“When you have pitching like that, it makes it tough on opponents,” Ball High grad Dani Barragan said. “Last year, we had good pitching, but not like this. We weren’t as deep.”

Skipper was wowed the first day of practice. She said all three pitchers could throw fast and locate three or four pitches.

Even in batting practice, where pitchers normally serve up meatballs for hitters to crush, the pitchers take it upon themselves to compete.

“They’re striking out our great hitters in batting practice, not going 100 percent,” Skipper said. “Imagine what they could do in the game.”

Barragan and Skipper lead five returners for the Whitecaps. Barragan plays second base and bats third in the lineup. She uses her speed and contact approach to get on base frequently.

Skipper will bat right behind Barragan in the cleanup spot. Skipper was Galveston College’s leader in RBIs and home runs a year ago.

“Those two really lead in the hitting department,” Delcambre said. “I think we’ll have a strong lineup.”

Barragan and Skipper aren’t resting their laurels, though. They remember last year’s tough loss to Blinn where the offense didn’t come through.

Even the best pitching isn’t always enough.

“I think there’s a renewed focus on coming together, helping each other out,” Barragan said. “We have chemistry, and that starts with the pitching and goes on down.”

The one phase of the game Delcambre worries about is fielding. But he thinks that can be overcome with practice, along with the great pitching and solid hitting.

There’s also more accountability, which the coach appreciates and has him excited for the possibilities.

“We feel confident in two out of the three phases of the game,” Delcambre said. “That’s exciting because it’s only February.”