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Bigger roles, bigger goals
By STEVE LEE, Times Staff Writer
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Battery mates Kiki Von Holt and Mandy Udovich helped lead River Ridge to the Class 4A state final last season as platoon players. Now they are are on their own, so to speak, with shared goals of leading the Royal Knights back to the state tournament. Von Holt shared time on the mound last season with Christine Beck, coach Ernie Beck's daughter who signed with Florida Gulf Coast University. Udovich alternated at catcher with Meghan Beach. With Beck and Beach among six graduates from the best team in school history, Von Holt, a junior, and Udovich, a senior, shoulder greater workloads. Neither is complaining. "I think for both of us, because we've played so much travel ball (both play on club teams in Clearwater), it's not pressure," Udovich said. "You're used to it. "I like (catching all 10 games so far), because you stay in the game. I mean, pitcher and catcher, you're involved in every play." Von Holt, who is 7-1 and has pitched 59 of her team's 73 innings, favors the increased workload but does not mind an occasional respite. "I got used to switching on and off, so it's a little different," said Von Holt, whose 14-2 record last season complemented Christine Beck's 15-1 mark. "I like pitching a lot, but sometimes it's good to get other pitchers in. I can't pitch every game." Deanna Kiesel and Jackie Linville have spelled Von Holt, with each earning a win. But don't look for Coach Beck to lighten Von Holt's load. He feels Von Holt, like Udovich, can handle the extra work. "They like their roles," Beck said. "They expected it." Beck intentionally had Udovich catch most of Von Holt's games last season while Beach served primarily as his daughter's catcher. With the versatile Christine Beck a standout second baseman as well, Von Holt and Udovich spent the most important games -- the region final, state semifinal and final -- as the Knights' battery mates. "The reason I left Kiki and Mandy together last year was because one was a junior and the other was a sophomore," Beck said. "I knew they were coming back this year." River Ridge won its first nine games before Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Mitchell. That marked Von Holt's first defeat since the Knights' 1-0 loss to Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in the 4A state championship game. Von Holt did not figure on winning every game and, besides, dwelling on that loss would only distract her from her next outing. "I always try to stay in focus," Von Holt said. "I can't let other teams distract me." Von Holt is cool and deliberate in serving up fastballs and sliders that batters rarely hit cleanly, if at all. Von Holt has 35 strikeouts and an 0.59 ERA. That compares favorably to her 68 strikeouts and 0.71 ERA last season. "She's a very composed young lady," said Land O'Lakes coach Jerry English, whose team has lost twice to Von Holt and the Knights. "She's very stoic. "You can't tell by her reaction whether she's winning or losing. She's one of the (county's) better ones, if not the best one." "She's a leader," Udovich said, noting that Von Holt leads more by example than words. Udovich, Von Holt said, is the Knights' vocal leader. "Mandy's usually pulling us off the bench to get us in the game," Von Holt said, noting that Udovich often leads the dugout cheering outbursts. Udovich batted .299 last season but is struggling with a .226 average. But she has only one error and refuses to let anything get her down. That optimism, she hopes, rubs off on her teammates. "I want the girls to think that the games are important as last year, because I think this team has the potential to do what we did last year," she said.
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