Darling repeats as ‘Player of Year’

BY MARTY MYERS

Times-Shamrock Writer

As The Scranton Times-Tribune Player of the Year in her junior season, some wondered what more Elk Lake’s Brooke Darling could bring to the table for her final campaign.

With the pitcher’s rubber moved back 3 feet, it didn’t seem likely she could dominate the way she did in posting an earned run average of less than 0.20 in 2010.

She didn’t throw the perfect games or no-hitters in dazzling fashion, but she still managed to dominate opponents, leading her team to a Lackawanna League Division III title and the District 2 Class AA championship.

But it’s not just the pitching numbers that helped Darling earn a second Player of the Year award. Raising her batting average more than 140 points, Darling became not only a force on the mound, but also a hitter to be reckoned with in the cleanup spot.

She finished second in D-III with a .456 average and led the league in doubles.

“That was the biggest surprise for me is how hard she worked on her hitting coming into the year, then to see her succeed,” Elk Lake coach Tony Blaisure said. “Brooke is a unique athlete. She’s put a lot of time and effort into it.”

She also put in a lot of time in the batting cages.

“There were two parts of her game, pitching and defense, and offensively, she wanted to help her teammates,” Blaisure said.

Heading to Columbia University next year, Darling understood she needed to add new levels to her game.

“We have a hitting coach for travel ball and I worked with him a lot over the winter so that I could hit this year for high school ball,” Darling said. “Not a lot of people expected me to hit the way I did. I saw the ball a lot better this year and my swing improved.”

It wasn’t the only change she made. The change in distance was supposed to make it easier for hitters, but Darling’s earned run average moved up only fractionally. She finished with a 0.31 ERA and picked up 18 of her 73 career victories.

“Everyone praises her but she doesn’t gloat about it or brag about it,” said Gabby Baltzley, her catcher since eighth grade. “She was good back then, but I’ve seen her improve over the years. She always threw hard, but her dropball is tremendous this year.

“There’s just a confidence she has.”