Central's Clark continues dream at Jacksonville

BROOKSVILLE -- When Jenny Clark was 12, she attended a camp where she met Olympians Dot Richardson and Lisa Fernandez.

By the end of the camp, Clark had decided she wanted to play and become an orthopaedic surgeon -- just like Richardson.

"Right then and there, I knew that's what I wanted to do," said Clark, a Central senior. Clark is not an Olympian or a doctor, but she's getting there. On April 10, she signed a national letter-of-intent to play at NCAA Division I Jacksonville University, which will field a team for the first time next season. Clark will study pre-medicine.

Clark is believed to be the first Central player and the second in county history to sign with a Division I program out of high school. Hernando's Kimi Olmstead signed with Colgate in the winter. Brittany Bell, a 1997 Hernando graduate, played at Pittsburgh after spending two seasons at Pasco-Hernando Community College.

"I was the happiest person ever," Clark said. "You think about it. We'd talked about it before. But once I signed that, I knew everything I ever worked for paid off."

Clark, 18, has made her share of sacrifices. She has played travel ball the past eight years. She was part of numerous national championship squads, helping the Clearwater Bullets to the Independent Softball Association Winternational and United States Fastpitch Association tournaments in 2001.

When her friends were at the beach during the summer, Clark was practicing.

Her sophomore year, she wanted to attend the prom but was playing in an exposure tourney in Miami. So when her games were done, she flew back for the prom, then returned to the tournament the following morning.

"There have been times people didn't understand why I'd give up so much time for softball," Clark said.

"I love softball. The team and everybody, those are my best friends, and there were a lot of people who didn't understand why I loved it so much," she said. "Now everybody sees how it paid off."

Clark had help along the way.

Besides Bullets coaches such as Darnell Coles and Dion Weaver, Clark learned the mechanics of pitching from Carl Parkwood during 15-minute sessions on Sundays at Land O'Lakes High. Later, she took lessons from National Softball Hall of Fame inductee Herb Dudley and Nelson Ferreiro, who taught her the curveball.

Then, there's her father, Tommy.

"Dad, he sat on a bucket a lot," Tommy Clark said. "I've got a permanent ring on my butt from sitting on a bucket catching her."

A four-year varsity starter, Jenny Clark played one season at Clearwater Central Catholic before transferring to Central as a sophomore. Last year, she led the Bears to their first district title.

Clark pitches and bats leadoff for Central, which was 9-10 entering Tuesday against Land O'Lakes. Through 17 games, Clark was hitting .310 and had eight RBIs. On the mound, she was 9-7 and had 171 strikeouts and a 0.98 earned-run average.

How special of a player is Clark?

"Special enough that (her name) was one of the first ones that came out of my mouth for all-conference the last three years," Central coach Benny Martinez said.

Jacksonville coach Jeff Franquet first saw Clark pitch in a tournament in Clearwater about three seasons ago.

"It was an immediate impression," Franquet said. "You can spot the good players a mile away."

Franquet said he will use four pitchers, with the top two throwing approximately every other day. But he would not speculate where Clark might fit.

"If I didn't see the potential and if I didn't think she could be one of the top two or three pitchers, she wouldn't be here," he said.

By the time she is a college senior, Clark hopes to try out for the Olympic team. Her goal is to make it past the first cut.

"I'll feel like I've actually made it and I'm in the top percent of all the softball players in the world," Clark said.

Just like Richardson.

-- Staff writer Frank Pastor can be reached at (800) 333-7505, ext. 1430, or pastor@sptimes.com.

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