By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

There are batters who can crush the ball, and then there are those, like Osceola High third baseman Alexa Ballard, who go up a level from there. They puree it.

She posted numbers for the Lady Kowboys softball team last season that seem Barry Bonds-ish: a .552 batting average, an .898 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .598. In 27 games, Ballard, a rising senior, had 33 RBIs, scored 30 times and had 48 hits, including 19 doubles, three triples and one home run.

Those gaudy numbers earned her a part of the Osceola News-Gazette Softball Player of the Year honors, shared with Harmony’s Breann Vanderzyl.

Ballard, a Class 5A All-State selection by Miracle Sports, said she was motivated to put together a great softball campaign after an injury last summer put her junior season in jeopardy.

“I wanted to get back to where I was before I was injured,” Ballard said.

She felt something in her thumb that wasn’t right last year, but she ignored it and played volleyball for the Lady Kowboys in the fall.

But, in November, doctors discovered a ripped nerve in the thumb.

Surgery, and a three-month layoff, followed.

“I wasn’t supposed to play in January, but I played because I had to,” she said. “I knew I had to if I was going to get back to where I was before.”

Ballard not only got back to where she had been as a sophomore, but she progressed a couple of laps beyond that point.

“I worked with my coaches, and my dad (Chris Ballard) always comes out and practices with me,” she said. “I work with whoever will help me.”

Osceola softball coach George Coffey has coached quite a few sluggers over a career that stretches 30 years, and he finds it hard to recall similar numbers from one of his players.

“She was a monster. You can’t ignore the impact she had for us this season,” Coffey said. “That was as dominant a season as I can recall.”

Ballard, who is playing travel ball for the South Florida Mini-Bulls in Tampa, doesn’t have to worry about impressing college coaches.

She recently gave a verbal commitment to Coach Joan Joyce at Florida Atlantic University. The Owls, members of the Sun Belt Conference, were 28-26 last season.

Former West Orange pitcher Taylor Fawbush, who twice eliminated OHS from the regional playoffs, is a freshman at FAU.

“She’s a lot faster than she was in high school,” Ballard said.

While some high school players can pad stats against inferior competition, that isn’t the case at OHS.

The Lady Kowboys host the Kissimmee Klassic each year, which brings the top teams in Florida to the Osceola County Softball Complex. Plus, OHS played in 5A District 5 against Polk County squads like Lake Wales, the 2009 Class 4A state runner-up.

“The Lake Wales pitcher (Hannah  Rogers) was the best I saw this year. She throws so hard that it’s hard to duplicate that in practice,” Ballard said.

“You can make adjustments, like moving back in the box against someone who throws real hard, but it’s tough when you only see that kind of speed once or twice a year.”

Ballard joins a formidable lineup next season that includes fellow infielders Carmen Nadal and Nicole Osterman, a Miracle Sports honorable mention all-state pick, when Osceola attempts to qualify for the regional playoffs.

“I think we’re going to have some fun with that group next year,” Coach Coffey said.