As a driving force who has conquered many obstacles on the road to success, Katie Obbema is a microcosm of the 2012 Live Oak softball team.
No Acorn is better fit for the position of starting pitcher and all of the labels that go with it – heart of the team, go-to player, leader – than the personable 5-foot, 10-inch righty, who has guided her team through injuries and tough early losses to within reach of the Mount Hamilton Division crown.
With 10 players available Tuesday, the Acorns beat the No. 5-ranked Westmont Warriors, who had not lost in 25 straight league contests, by 2-1 score at Live Oak High School in one of the biggest upsets of the season.
Obbema outdueled Lujane Mussadi (14-3) across seven tense innings, pitching her way out of countless jams with the help of watertight defense by the Acorns. Obbema threw 126 pitches to Mussadi’s 74, but she kept the Warriors at bay long enough until Jenny Obbema, her twin, and Ashley Zerr delivered back-to-back RBI triples with two outs in the fifth, putting Live Oak ahead for good.
Katie Obbema retired six of her final eight batters to beat the team that has tormented her and the Acorns for years; they lost 4-3 in 12 innings to Mussadi and the Warriors on March 23.
“I’ve been fighting back to get a win against them since the first time I started as a sophomore,” said Obbema, who struck out two, walked three and allowed seven hits. “We’ve been knocking on the door since then. We know we always need to stay positive.”
For Obbema, 17, that has been one of the greatest lessons she has learned during her high school career, which includes an equally successful three years of varsity volleyball. Obbema’s dream since she was “who knows how old” was to be a student-athlete in college, preferably at San Francisco State. She knew she had the softball talent, and the fact that she had been in touch with college coaches as early as her sophomore year made it seem all the more probable that she could fulfill her goal for her senior year and sign with CSUSF in January.
When the Gators told Obbema they had enough players for 2012-13, Obbema looked elsewhere for a better fit. She found it in Humboldt State. Obbema attended a camp there during winter break and was offered a scholarship shortly after – just a shade under February, Obbema pointed out. She liked that the school had a strong biology department and a recent run of success in NCAA Division II softball under fastpitch Hall of Fame coach Frank Cheek. Obbema signed with the Lumberjacks on April 13.
“It’s kind of random how things work out,” she said. “I didn’t want to go that far away. Humboldt’s kind of a stretch, but that wasn’t going to stop my goal.”
Obbema’s mind hasn’t exactly been at ease since then. She and her sister will soon separate for an extended period for the first time since birth. The two are best friends, as close as twins could be.
“It’s really nice to have someone that knows how hard you’re working for something,” Obbema said. “Like every pitch, I do my hardest. I try my best. She’s always been there to back me up.”
Naturally, it was Jenny who made the final out to complete Katie’s no-hitter against Alvarez on March 15, and it was Jenny who snagged a laser-like line drive off the bat of Allie Mohn at third base to end Tuesday’s game – arguably the two biggest wins of Katie’s career.
During volleyball season, the Twin Towers started alongside each other with Katie at middle blocker and Jenny at setter.
“We’re always there for each other, always cheering each other on whether it’s a good game or a bad game,” said Jenny, the younger Obbema sister by 10 minutes. “No matter what, we can look at each and make each other smile.
“I’m really excited for her next year. She’s done a lot.”
Jenny plans to attend San Francisco State and possibly walk on for softball. That would pit the Obbemas against each other for the first time during conference play.
“That’s going to be hard, but … yeah, it’ll be hard,” Katie said.
Westmont led 1-0 on Mohn’s infield single that scored Casey Morris, who doubled earlier as part of a 4-for-4 afternoon for the Sonoma State-bound catcher. That was all the Warriors (15-3, 8-1) could muster, despite putting eight runners in scoring position.
“Both pitchers threw well,” Westmont manager Jon Hennig said. “We didn’t take advantage of opportunities when we had people on base early in the game.”
Katie Obbema deflected much of the credit to her teammates. Rachel Ditta started the fifth-inning rally with a single up the middle – she scored on Zerr’s triple – and made several key plays at shortstop, ranging for hard grounders and gloving two line drives. Zerr caught a shot to center to save a run in the sixth, and Kate Guzman had three assists and a putout.
“Anything to them, they were scooping it up,” Obbema said. “Rachel didn’t stop. Even if she didn’t have a play at first, she fought through, hoping the runner stumbles or something. She never gave up. That’s the biggest thing.”
Mussadi, who has signed with St. Mary’s, struck out two but more importantly held the Acorns to six hits. The senior cruised through the first four innings, while Obbema battled for every out.
“Katie’s focus is her biggest strength,” Jenny said. “She did not let anything get in her head, even if it was the best hitter or the worst hitter. She went right after them.”
Obbema couldn’t always do that. While she has possessed ample physical strength, Obbema has often lost what she calls “the mental game.”
“I’d tend to get frustrated if the ump’s not calling a pitch I want or if girls are hitting perfectly good pitches,” she said. “You can only do so much as a pitcher. You just have to remember your team’s behind you. That’s part of being a good leader – trusting your teammates.”
Physically, Obbema is as sound as ever with a harder fastball and more deceptive combinations of a changeup and breaking pitches.
“She’s been working really hard to be her best this year,” Live Oak manager Barry McDonnell said.
For the times she does lose her composure, Obbema falls back on her happy-go-luck freshman catcher, Tiffany Moore.
“When it’s a tough situation, I try to make her smile,” Moore said, referring to their conferences on the mound. “It could be a really serious moment, and I’ll just make a joke or say, ‘How’s school going?’ She knows what to say to the rest of us if we make an error – ‘You’ll get it next time.’”
Winners of three straight and six of their last seven, the Acorns (12-6, 6-3) will rely heavily on Obbema down the stretch, as they try for a third straight Central Coast Section playoff berth and possibly a league title. They have five games left starting today at second-place Leigh, another team that has given them trouble as of late.
The Acorns will have just the right person in the circle.
“No matter what school gets in our way, we’re not giving up,” Obbema said. “People are like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re playing with nine or 10 girls.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, we are.’ And we’re just fine.”
