Overwhelming power

Marengo's Danielle Simons has been named the Northwest Herald's softball Player of the Year. Simons had a 1.15 ERA and led Marengo to a 35-5 record. As a pitcher she was 23-4 with 196 strikeouts, and 28 earned runs. She also batted .400 with 40 RBIs and 34 runs scored. This fall, Simons will be attending University of Wisconsin-Platteville. (Lauren M. Anderson - landerson@nwherald.com)

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Danielle Simons was an imposing presence on the softball field and if she didn’t intimidate her opponents at first glance, she frustrated them later.

The Marengo senior quietly worked on a mean screwball during the offseason to add to a velocity that routinely tipped the mid-60s and, no matter where she was in the count, situations never seemed to faze her.

Then opposing pitchers faced her in the batter’s box, where she commonly came through in the clutch as the Indians’ No. 5 hitter.

“You don’t want to face her when she’s in the circle,” said Crystal Lake South coach Scott Busam, “and you don’t want to face her when she’s hitting. She’s just an all-around dominant player.”

For her often overpowering pitching, her timely hitting and for leading the Indians to an area-best 35-5 overall mark while playing the toughest non-conference schedule, Simons is the Northwest Herald Softball Player of the Year, as selected by the sports staff with input from local coaches.

Cary-Grove freshman pitcher Lindsay Efflandt, Huntley senior catcher Jenna Mychko and Prairie Ridge senior shortstop Anna Patras also were strongly considered for the award.

Simons wrapped up her final season at Marengo with a 1.15 ERA with 196 strikeouts against 701 batters.

Simons allowed 40 runs – 28 earned – walked 45 batters and scattered 129 hits to go 23-4 overall with one save.

She batted .400 with a .573 slugging percentage and a .481 on-base percentage. Simons scored 34 runs, had 44 hits including eight doubles, four triples and one home run, and drove in 40 runs.

“We faced her twice and never really were able to get much going against her,” Prairie Ridge coach Mike Buck said. “She just had that kind of year.”

Simons was hesitant to take much credit, passing along much praise to the defense behind her, noting that she never has been a pitcher that relied heavily on strikeouts.

Simons relied more on finesse and movement, both of which Marengo coach Dwain Nance saw much more this year.

“There was a lot more maturity out there,” Nance said. “She had a great command of all her pitches and did a great job of hitting different pitches to several different points on the field.

“More importantly, she had a lot of confidence in our defense and they came through for her and our offense actually supported her really well. They’d give her a lead fairly often.”

Simons, who is going to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville to play softball, was disappointed she wasn’t able to make a deeper run in the postseason this year. The Indians lost to Antioch, 3-2, in a Class 3A sectional final and having defeated the Sequoits earlier in the season, the loss was particularly difficult.

Simons still felt Marengo’s accomplishments – including winning the first Big Northern Conference East Division title since 2004 and a fourth consecutive regional title and handing Class 3A state champion Metamora its only loss this season – made her senior year special.

“It was a disappointing end, but looking back on the season there was so much to be proud of,” she said. “This team has the greatest group of girls ever and I was so happy to play with them.”