By Kyle LoJacono
The Sunlake softball team has two pitchers who are essentially polar opposites of each other.
Senior Tyler Riendeau is 6-foot-3, while junior Meghan Durbin is nearly a foot shorter at 5-foot-2.
“Just the height from Tyler alone is intimidating,” said Sunlake first-year coach Jami Finan said. “She’s got a lot more speed than Meghan. Meghan has more movement.”
Riendeau, who transferred to Sunlake from Robinson last season, said their differences add to their success.
“We complement each other well,” Riendeau said. “We’re very different pitchers. I throw hard and she throws the ball for movement. I can start the game and she can come in or vice versa, and the batters will see completely different pitches.”
Durbin throws a fastball, changeup, curveball, dropball and screwball. Riendeau uses a fastball, dropball, knuckleball and cutter.
Durbin was the only pitcher for the Seahawks her freshman year. She said having another hurler on the squad has helped her in several ways.
“Tyler has been doing this longer, so I’ve learned a lot from her,” Durbin said. “We do different things, but she can still help me with how to pitch.”
Things have been working for the two on the mound this year. Riendeau has a 5-1 record with a 3.26 ERA in 43 innings of work. She has struck out 40 batters along the way.
Meghan is a perfect 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA in 26 innings pitched while recording 19 Ks.
Riendeau has signed her letter of intent to play at Lander University in South Carolina. Durbin has not committed to any school yet, but Finan said she has the ability to pitch at the next level.
–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.
