Nevada’s dominant pitcher should embrace publicity
Monday, Apr. 21, 2008 @ 11:39 pm
Nevada softball pitcher Katie Holverson needs to take credit for her excellence because she is the Wolf Pack’s Keanu Reeves. Reeves usually saves the world in movies, just as Holverson has saved Nevada from a pitching mound. She has dominated for a Wolf Pack team that has not been home enough this season and deserves media attention. Holverson is the player to supply that attention.
I wanted to talk to the sophomore about her success after her 4-1 win against Hawaii, but she didn’t want to talk about it.
She didn’t want to talk about the fact that she has been on the mound for 155.1 of Nevada’s 308.1 innings this season.
She didn’t want to talk about her 19.2 scoreless innings streak.
She didn’t even want to talk about the two Arizona state player of the year awards she won in high school.
“I don’t like talking about my stats,” she said.
She wanted to give all credit to her teammates and dwell on the one run she surrendered.
Reno reporters were getting a rare chance to pump up Holverson’s success, but she didn’t feed into the media.
This is an unfamiliar team for Nevada fans, who only know of Holverson’s dominance through box scores. The Wolf Pack has only played six of its 46 games at home this season.
This team has a leader, and that leader is Holverson.
She needs to assume her role as the leader and get this team some ink by talking to the media.
I don’t want to sound like an upset sports journalist. I just want to help this team get recognized and Holverson is the team’s biggest story.
She is 16-5 with a 2.34 earned run average and sometimes pitches three games in a row. She leads the Western Athletic Conference in saves (5) and has been influential in Nevada’s run into the top 25 for the first time in school history.
On April 5, Holverson pitched an 11-inning shutout against the only pitcher in the conference who might be better than her.
Fresno State’s Morgan Melloh matched Holverson for 11 straight scoreless innings. Nevada struck for two in the top of the 11th inning and Holverson shut the door in the bottom of the inning.
Holverson allowed three hits and struck out eight batters in her 11-inning complete game shutout.
She came back the next day and pitched another complete game shutout against the Bulldogs.
Fresno State was No. 10 in the nation and has the highest batting average in the WAC (.305), but against Holverson they hit more like the Bad News Bears or the San Francisco Giants.
She may be a perfectionist, but even a perfectionist can look at their performances in awe.
She is trying to be the leader of the team and not hype herself. That is understandable.
Shameless athlete self-promotion is for NFL wide receivers and Jose Canseco.
No one wants to be a Canseco, but I’m not asking her to be one.
Holverson needs to take advantage of the media attention and assume her role as one of the most dominant athletes on campus.
She is not being a self-promoter if she does that. She is just making it easier for Reno fans to hear her story.
I’m not saying she has to wear a T-shirt that reads “world’s best softball pitcher” between classes, but she needs to let the Reno media parade her success.
She has dominated her sport more than any Nevada athlete this season and that is a story worth hyping.
Emerson Marcus is the Assistant Sports Editor at the Nevada Sagebrush. He can be reached at emarcus@nevadasagebrush.com.
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© 2008 The Nevada Sagebrush
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
In a world full of self promoting players I find that Miss Holversons Team Attitude Refreshing!!!
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Sorry, but I don’t think that Katie’s comments about herself or how she feels about her stats/performance/etc. have anything to do with how the Wolfpack is perceived. As she obviously knows, the team is the story. Collectively the team is more important than any one individual. The reporter believes that Katie should “take advantage of the media attention and assume her role as … a dominant athlete.” I’d like to point out that the Nevada Sagebrush reporter could possibly find a better mechanism for promoting (?) the Wolfpack without publicly calling out a talented bright young woman who has contributed much to Pack athletics and serves as a fine example of the ultimate team player through her contributions.