Over the past year, Free State High’s Catherine Smith has evolved from a soft-spoken sophomore pitcher on the Firebirds’ softball team into a standout junior ace for the 2007 state-bound squad.

“She’s taken it upon herself to come in and be a leader when that’s really not her personality,” FSHS coach Pam Pine said. “She’s more laid-back and kind of quiet. So to me, that shows she’s coming out of her shell. And she has a lot of the responsibility on her shoulders and she’s done a good job with that.

“It’s a lot more fun. You can joke with her, and before she kind of had the same emotion all the way through, and now she’s kind of lightened up a little bit. She’s still not as talkative maybe as some, but when she does say things she says some pretty funny things – she has a pretty dry sense of humor.”

What caused such a change within the past year?

Yelling. Constant yelling.

“A big part of it is, I got on this new summer team this year and the coach – he’s a yeller,” Smith said. “Anything you do wrong, he’s going to yell at you and it’ll be over with. So I just learned not to let it bother me anymore. It definitely got me mentally tough.”

In her junior campaign, Smith has been a driving force for the Sunflower League champs with her 11-2 record and a 0.68 earned-run average in the regular season. During Class 6A regional action she pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up two wins.

Heading into the 2007 season, Pine’s greatest worry was the team’s starting pitching after losing No. 1 pitcher Summer Mulford to graduation.

“I knew we would be pretty good defensively this year, and I was just a little concerned about our pitching because I hadn’t really seen Catherine pitch that much,” Pine said. “And I knew from last year she was not as confident and she had trouble with keeping her control. So I was just a little nervous about the pitching area.”

Participating in off-season camps to learn new pitches, Smith has developed into the pitching ace Pine said she’s never been fortunate enough to coach at Free State.

“Most good teams have a very good pitcher, a stud that they rely on, and I’ve never really had that happen before,” the Firebirds’ skipper said. “Over the years I’ve just had to take what I got. We don’t have a lot of girls that pitch around here. … In Lawrence, there’s just not a whole lot of pitching.”

Another key to Smith’s development has been the presence of seasoned senior Allie Hock behind the plate.

“I went and caught with her when she would work at the KU clinics in the winter and just listen to what the coaches would tell her about the certain pitches so that when we’re out here working on them I can say a couple of key words and hopefully that clicks something,” said Hock, Free State’s catcher who signed to play softball at Simpson College, a Division-III school in Indianola, Iowa.

“That translates over into a game and helps her get back on track. … We usually talk after every inning in the dugout, so it’s just a good connection to have between a pitcher and a catcher.”

In those games Catherine Smith doesn’t start, it’s been younger sister Megan Smith (5-1, 1.22 ERA) who is in the pitching circle.

“I think she’s playing the same role I played last year,” the elder Smith said. “She’s going to take her innings when she gets them and she’s going to make the most of it and she knew that. We’ve talked about it. … Every little bit of information I get, I can help her out and tell her.”

Megan said having her big sister occasionally coming in whenever she’s in a jam has been a helpful experience.

“I like it a lot because if I’m doing anything wrong, she’ll tell me,” the freshman Firebird said. “And it’s not like it’s a pitcher that I don’t know, so it’s not as big of a deal when she relieves me.

“I think she just gets how I feel. She’s never too hard on me, so I definitely like her relieving me because it’s like a sisterly bond we have.”