From Courtney Durbin to Stephanie Frances, Sunlake softball coach Nelson Garcia has seen his fair share of power hitters in his five seasons at the school.
Perhaps none is more powerful than senior catcher/third baseman Gianna Basilone, who leads all Tampa Bay area hitters with seven home runs, through 19 games. One more dinger and she’ll tie Sunlake’s single-season home run record set by Samantha Dittman in 2009. In addition to her home run total, Basilone has 28 RBIs to go along with an eye-popping .448 batting average.
(Courtesy of Nelson Garcia)
The senior’s performance, both at the plate and behind the plate, has led to a scholarship offer from Oklahoma State University, which is coached by Kenny Gajewski, a former assistant with the Florida Gators.
The Sunlake slugger is still waiting on a financial package from the university before she commits.
Coach Garcia called Basilone a “coach’s dream” because of work ethic, leadership and, of course, on-field results.
“You get these certain players, I won’t say every year, but you get these players, you can’t replace them. They’re irreplaceable,” Garcia said. “Somebody can come in and say they can hit eight home runs or nine home runs, but it doesn’t replace these players. As people, they’re awesome, and as teammates and leaders. It’s the same thing with (former players) Stephanie Francis or Courtney Durbin.”
While Basilone has always been known for the pop her in her bat—she mashed six home runs last season—she’s become an even more imposing slugger after Garcia implemented a team weight-training program in the offseason.
The program has helped Basilone get stronger and quicker — aspects that are imperative for making an impact at the Division I level.
“There’s always things I can like improve on,” said Basilone, who started attending Sunlake as a sophomore after moving from Pittsburgh. “It’s such a higher pace up in college.”
As Basilone has filled up the stat sheet, some opposing teams have started to approach her at-bats differently. Instead of giving her pitches to hit, teams have resorted to giving her a free pass to avoid facing her.
“After my first few at-bats, they try to find a weakness that I have. Or, some people just walk me or hit me,” Basilone said.
“There was one game (against Hudson on Feb. 26) she had two home runs. …I was surprised they pitched to her the second time,” Garcia said, adding, “I wouldn’t have pitched to her.”
The strategy of avoiding Basilone’s bat only works so well, as Sunlake (13-7) features a lineup with seven everyday players batting over .350.
In his lineups, Garcia opts to place senior Cassidy Roberts (.435 batting average, 16 RBIs) ahead of Basilone, and freshman sensation Shelby Lansing (.438. 20 RBIs) behind her in the lineup.
“I like to try to do to people what the (New York) Yankees used to do from a few years ago,” Garcia said. “I want (teams) to be tired by the time they get through our order. Then we can go small ball.”
With a 7-3-district mark, the Seahawks have aspirations of winning their district, and making a deep run into the postseason.
“I’ve told these girls from Day 1 when we started practicing that I’m very confident that if we play our game, and stay within ourselves, we can go out and compete against anybody out there,” Garcia said.
Basilone added this year’s team is “definitely” the best one she’s been on in her three seasons at Sunlake.
“All the girls that I’m playing with want to go to college, and they all are here for a reason,” she said. “They give their full effort…and they’re just all really competitive.
“That’s how we all click, too.”
Published April 6, 2016
