TIONESTA, Pa. (EYT/D9) — When Izzy Flick was a freshman, she threw just one inning.
That certainly has changed over the past three seasons for the senior on the Forest Area softball team.
Flick has been a workhorse in the circle for the Fires and has piled up some prodigious statistics during the time, helping the program climb from one that struggled to one that is a perennial playoff team.
On Tuesday afternoon in an 8-3 win over Union/A-C Valley, Flick reached 300 career strikeouts — a testament to her longevity, ability to handle a huge workload and her talent.
(Pictured above, Forest Area pitcher Izzy Flick poses with her 300 strikeout ball along side her father and Forest softball coach Eric Flick/Submitted photo)
“I put in the work pretty much my whole entire life, so it was the outcome I hoped for,” she said.
Flick came into the game needing four Ks to reach the milestone. She got nine in the victory, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits. She walked just one.
After struggling with a hip injury and a painful blister on the bottom of her left (plant) foot this season, Flick is finally healthy, and it has shown over her last three starts — all Forest triumphs.
“I feel like every game, it’s gotten better and better,” Flick said. “Hopefully it keeps on getting better.”
Flick is 3-0 over those starts with 36 strikeouts and just six walks. She was coming off a game against Keystone late last week in which she struck out 21 in a 3-2 victory — all outs coming by K.
She sports a 1.05 ERA in her last three outings.
It has helped the Fires vault back over .500 heading toward the postseason.
“It definitely feels a lot better to be winning,” said Forest coach Eric Flick, who is also Izzy’s father. “We got beat up in the middle of the season when we played all of our toughest competitors in a row and we weren’t playing our best ball at the time.”
Izzy was battling injuries during that stretch and was also in a funk.
She’s snapped out of it at an opportune time.
“I’m proud of her,” said Coach Flick. “When she was a freshman we had a senior that did most of the work and (Izzy) got to only pitch one inning. So all of this has happened in the last three years.”
With Izzy Flick in control in the circle, the Fires (7-6) rallied from two runs down when their offense finally caught up to Union/A-C Valley pitcher Magen Walzak.
Forest took the lead with three in the fourth and pulled away with a five-spot in the fifth.
Faith Dietrich went 3 for 3, Izzy Flick went 2 for 5 with two RBIs, Alexis Oswald doubled and Alexa Carll also had a pair of hits and knocked in two to power the Fires offense.
Kya Wetzel and Maddy Dehart each doubled, and Alivya Hartzell had a pair of hits for Union/A-C Valley (6-6).
But the Falcon Knights couldn’t tame Izzy Flick.
To her, pitching virtually every inning is no big deal. She relishes it.
“I know I have to do all the work,” she said. “I know my teammates rely on me. I’ve just kind of been raised like that.”
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