TIONESTA, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Izzy Flick stands in the middle of the circle, feet planted on the rubber.
She squeezes the softball that is tucked in the web of her glove. A hush falls over her. Complete concentration.
Her arms spins like the blade of a windmill and she delivers a pitch, her right leg dragging as she releases.
The ball sizzles through the crisp air and into the catcher’s mitt with a “thwap!”
Flick has done that thousands and thousands of times in her life as a softball pitcher for Forest Area — and that was the problem.
All those pitches and all those leg drags took a toll on the West Forest student and nearly threatened her burgeoning career on the softball diamond.
“I was struggling getting through a whole game,” Flick recalls, sending her mind back in time to the moment when she knew there was an issue.
It was the second game of a three-team doubleheader against Clarion-Limestone and Clarion last May. Flick pitched in both and knew it from the pain that grew to intolerable levels in her right hip.
“I think that was the start of it,” Flick continued. “Through summer travel ball, I couldn’t even get an inning in without it bothering me to a point where I had to sit out completely.”
Flick, who turned in a stellar campaign with Fires as a freshman, helping the co-op between West and East Forest and North Clarion to their first-ever District 9 championship game, was diagnosed with apophysitis of the hip — a painful overuse injury that typically occurs after repetitive activities.
Like pitching a softball.
The only treatment is rest — and a lot of it. The only way to mitigate the chances of it happening again is physical therapy — and a lot of that, too.
Flick did both.
For three months, she didn’t pick up a softball. She went to physical therapy instead, working on strengthening the surrounding structures in her pelvis, leg and hip.
The injury is common among athletes between the ages of 14 and 18. It typically is seen in runners, dancers, soccer and hockey players.
And, yes, softball pitchers, too, although less commonly.
(Forest’s Izzy Flick makes a pitch during the District 9 Class A title game against DuBois Central Catholic last season/submitted photo)
“I went to pitching practice over the winter and I couldn’t do that, so we went to the Lemieux Center in Pittsburgh,” Flick said. “It hurt so bad. I couldn’t do it.”
Flick returned to her doctor at the Lemieux Center several times to be evaluated. Each time she was sent home without clearance to resume throwing.
The race was on.
Flick is the only pitcher on the Forest roster and there was some doubt whether she would be permitted — or even able — to pitch this spring for the Fires, who have some very high hopes for the season.
“I was like, ‘Games are coming up,’” Flick said. “‘I gotta get back.’ I was definitely scared that I wasn’t gonna be ready when it was game time.”
Finally, just a few weeks before the start of the season, Flick returned again to the Lemieux Center. This time, she received the green light to pitch again.
It was a tremendous relief for Flick, but she admits she still has a long way to go after virtually six months of not pitching to recapture the form that made her one of the top hurlers in District 9 last season.
Forest is 2-0 after a 9-8 win over Clarion-Limestone on Thursday. Flick has pitched in both of those games, but is nowhere near satisfied with how she has performed.
She’ll get there, she said. Deep down she knows that, although the process has been more difficult than she had thought.
The important thing is Flick is without pain — certainly welcome after dealing with the discomfort for so long.
“It feels good,” Flick said. “It just feels good to pitch without pain. I think my mechanics are off a little bit, just from the lack of doing it for so long. It’s been a long time since I’ve even picked up a softball.”
Flick is also fighting another battle, this one inside her mind.
“I think most of my problems right now is I’m almost 100%, but it’s like I’m scared that it’s gonna happen again,” Flick said. “It’s almost like I’m trying to protect myself from it happening again. Once I realized that everything is fine, I’ll get back to normal.”
Normal is pretty good for Flick.
Last year, she was 16-5 with a 2.94 ERA. In 109⅓ innings, she struck out 138.
Flick threw a no-hitter in a 16-1 win over Clarion in the first round of the District 9 Class A playoffs, then threw seven strong innings in an 8-5 victory over Otto-Eldred that put the Fires into the D9 title game.
Forest lost to DuBois Central Catholic, then in the true second place game to Elk County Catholic to miss the state playoffs.
Getting back and winning the District 9 title this time around is one of the main goals for Flick and the Fires.
“I definitely feel like this year, we’re gonna hit our peak during playoff season,” Flick said. “I feel like last year we were at our peak in midseason and toward the end of the regular season and then had a fall off. I think this year we are capable of going a long way.”
As long as Flick’s hip stays healthy.
“I definitely have more strengthening to do,” Flick said. “But it feels good. I feel good.”
