Anderson puts dent in Wood record book

WINCHESTER — One way to see just how much of an impact James Wood sophomore catcher Lindsey Anderson makes is to just look at the scoreboard at Ridge Field.

If the Colonels put runs on the scoreboard, chances are Anderson did some of the damage.

But taking a closer look at the scoreboard in the top-left corner, above the ‘at-bat’ portion of the sign there’s a noticeable dent.

The blemish on the board came after Anderson smashed her single-season, record-breaking home run — her fourth of the season at that time — in a 17-3 victory over Hampshire (W.Va.) on April 2.

When James Wood softball coach Todd Baker pointed out Anderson’s dent on the scoreboard, the Colonels second-year coach sounded almost like an excited Baltimore Orioles fan pointing out the medallions where home runs landed on Eutaw Street beyond the right-field fence and flag court at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

“See where it says at-bat and right above that where the number goes there — that’s where she broke the home run record this year,” Baker said. “The ball hit right there and there’s the dent in the scoreboard. She tied the single-season mark last year with three and broke it this year. Pretty special.”

Anderson’s offensive numbers for the Colonels are pretty jaw-dropping.

She leads the team in batting average (.463), hits (16), doubles (five), triples (two), home runs (five) and runs batted in (26). Her RBI total — which is just one shy of her total last season — is nearly 25 percent of the team’s total.

Anderson attributes her offensive production — that includes 75 percent of her hits going for extra bases — to the amount of time she spends on hitting practice, either at James Wood’s batting cage or hitting practice at home with her father, Brian.

“I’m always working on my hitting,” said Anderson, a first team All-Northwestern District and Conference 21 selection who led the Colonels by batting .429 with 27 RBIs a season ago. “I have my own setup at home and I work a lot on my own, and I come here and work. I work with my dad. We probably practice once a week and it’s probably like two hours each time. Just working on a good swing and hitting line drives. It’s just working hard at practices and working hard on my own.”

Anderson’s RBI total doubles the total of any other James Wood player, but her production wouldn’t be possible if not for teammates — like Alyssa Brown (19 runs) and Courteney Harper (20 runs) — getting on base.

Baker said he first saw Anderson play for a travel team when she was in the seventh grade.

“I had heard about her and you’re always looking for pitchers and catchers. She’s probably one of the purest hitters I’ve ever seen.”

She put on a hitting clinic in the Colonels’ 10-0, five-inning victory over Clarke County at Ridge Field on March 29. She went 3 for 3 with a walk, a pair of doubles, a home run and six RBIs.

Anderson said the Clarke County game stands out in a season where she’s averaged nearly two RBIs through 15 games.

“It was a fun game and our pitchers did really good that game,” said Anderson, who seemed more comfortable talking about her teammates’ play more than her own.

Anderson joins classmates and pitchers Lani Spielman (5-2, 0.60 earned-run average, 60 strikeouts) and Lauren King (4-1, 1.23 ERA, 59 strikeouts) in a battery that should be set for Colonels for the next two years.

Anderson started playing T-ball when she was eight at Frederick County’s league located in Clearbrook, and she started playing softball at age 12. She’s always enjoyed catching and said that’s been her position for “as long as I can remember.”

“I’ve always been a catcher throughout baseball [and softball],” Anderson said. “I just like being in on every pitch and catching every ball. Just always thinking about each pitch and staying in the game.”

Both King and Spielman possess power fastballs and plenty of movement on their breaking pitches and Anderson’s skills behind the plate give the team a lot of confidence.

“She’s got a great glove and she’s a wall behind the plate,” King said. “She blocks everything. She’s got a great arm and it makes it hard for a lot of teams to steal, which helps us out because [teams] can’t get runners in scoring position. It makes it a lot easier to throw knowing no matter where I throw it she’s going to get to it and she’s going to stop it whether it’s high or low. It just makes it a lot easier to pitch.”

King said Anderson’s always been a gifted hitter who leads by example and her ability has kind of evolved over their past four seasons playing together.

“She’s always had a good bat,” King said. “She has five home runs already — that kind of speaks for itself.

“She’s quiet but when you get to know her she’ll talk your ear off. She’s a good role model for the team because she always keeps her emotions in-check.”

Baker said Anderson’s catching ability allows him to not worry about what pitches he calls for when teams have runners in scoring position.

“She controls the game where you feel very confident throwing any pitch with runners on base because you know she’s going to keep it in front of her and players don’t normally advance,” Baker said. “That adds a lot of confidence as a coach calling pitches, knowing that you can call pitches at any time. I know a lot of coaches will change their pitch calling when a player gets to third because you don’t want a screwball down [in the dirt] to give up an easy run. We don’t feel that way with Lindsey. She keeps the ball in front of her and does a great job.”

The Colonels (11-4, 3-0 Northwestern District, 2-1 Conference 21 West) hope to make it further than last season when the team advanced to the regional tournament.

“We just want to make it to regionals and states,” Anderson said.

Baker said having Anderson’s glove behind the plate is just as valuable as having her bat in the middle of the order.

“As good as our pitching staff is, and most of the time they’re dominant, I don’t know that we are where we are without out her. I know we’re not.

“She was voted her freshman year by our coaching staff as MVP of the team on a pretty good team — a 16-win varsity team. That shows you how important we knew she was to this program.”

— Contact Robert Stocks at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.