Softball: Pitching to Montini's Cuchran wasn't worth the risk

Pitch to Montini third baseman Nikki Cuchran at your own risk, and the risks are many.

Ever since her first game as a freshman four years ago, the slugging Bronco has taken advantage of just about every good pitch thrown her way. Opponents who don't pitch around her are at the risk of watching a ball sail over the fence, or dangerously zip past a pitcher or infielder. Try and nibble around the plate, and the disciplined veteran won't bite, using a great eye for the strike zone to coax plenty of walks.

Cuchran and her Montini teammates won the program's first state title in 2016 when she was a sophomore. Now the senior is headed back to state after Monday's 8-3 supersectional defeat of Lemont. Cuchran heads back to state as the school's varsity record holder in pretty much every offensive category and is the Daily Herald's DuPage County All-Area Captain for a second straight year.

'The most dominant'

Montini coach Mike Bukovsky, who has coached softball, football and wrestling at the Lombard school for more than three decades, knows Cuchran is a special talent. He also knows she's a special person with a special drive that combined with her talent makes her a one-of-a-kind high school athlete.

"I've been at Montini coaching for 34 years," he said. "I've had four-time state wrestling champions - three of them - out of 15 total (champions) so I've been very fortunate. Garrett Goebel started 25 games for Ohio State, Jaleel Johnson is in the NFL … all these kids I coached in football and wrestling, but she's the most dominant athlete I've ever coached. She affects a high school game bigger than anyone else I've ever coached."

This dominance did not come without a lot of hard work, but it did come long before this senior season. Cuchran hit in the middle of the team's lineup as a freshman in 2015. As a sophomore she played as big a role as anyone in the school's 37-3 run to the Class 3A title. Last spring all she did was bat .619 with 11 home runs and a DuPage County-best 65 RBI.

"The girls were the biggest part. They took me in, were really supportive and they let me fit in," she said of joining the varsity squad from the very beginning. "That was a big part of it and it all just fell together."

Things have been falling together for four years in a row now for program, but the 2016 spring was the pinnacle. That is, unless 2018 also delivers a 30-win campaign and another state championship.

"The best part was just winning state my sophomore year," said Cuchran, who verbally committed to play at DePaul University way back in eighth grade after she put on a hitting clinic at a DePaul camp that left an impression on the Blue Demons' staff. "I just think, you know, like there's a special feeling when there's a special team. I feel like this year we have it and I feel like that year you could feel it too."

With or without another state crown this weekend, Cuchran and fellow seniors like pitching ace Bri Clifton have left their marks on the school and the softball program.

"It's awesome (to have so many wins). That's like the biggest thing," she said. "You want to leave an imprint, leave your legacy. I think me and all the other girls have done a great job with that, especially the other seniors."

While it wasn't easy to top last year's gaudy stats, Cuchran did just that this spring. Entering Monday's supersectional win, she had 69 hits in 99 at-bats for a batting average just under .700. The four-time All-Area performer also has 15 home runs and 75 RBI, all the while being pitched around by opponents who are all too familiar with the risks.

"The best thing about her is she does the right thing," Bukovsky said after Cuchran reached base three times in a 3-2 sectional win over St. Francis, twice by walk and once being hit by a pitch. "She's not going to chase and make an out. She's going to get on base three times a game. You'd love for her to get a pitch to hit out. They were smart. They weren't going to let her beat them. That's what makes her so special is that she stays within herself so well."

While the power numbers are video-game like - 51 home runs, 70 doubles, 252 RBI and a career average of .620 - her low strikeout total is just flat-out crazy. Cuchran has struck out nine times in four seasons. Let that figure sink in for a moment. The Cubs struck out 24 times in one game last week.

"Her career numbers are unbelievable," Bukovsky said. "She struck out, in four years, with more than 400 at-bats, nine times in her career. That's amazing."

Not just a slugger

It would be tempting - almost expected - for a hitter of Cuchran's caliber to expand the strike zone a little to get her mighty bat on more pitches. But she has gladly taken her walks, more than 100 in four years, knowing that her fellow Broncos were there to deliver the big hits and runs batted in.

"It's all like a plan. I mean if they're walking me every time it's going to come together. Someone else is going to hit me in. It's not that frustrating because I know my team has my back," she said. "Since I'm not seeing too many (strikes) when I do see something good I know I need to take advantage of it because I'm waiting for that."

Anyone who thinks the slugging Cuchran is a one-way player will change their tune in a heartbeat. She excels as a first baseman for her club team, the Beverly Bandits, but also plays a Gold Glove-level third base during the high school season. She'll most likely see most of her college action at first base.

"Her defense is outstanding and nobody ever talks about that," Bukovsky said. "What I love is, you watch her in pregame and she dives, she gets down on the white stripe and gets all dirty. She just loves to play. When you have that kind of special talent and the drive, you're just special.

"When you have the whole package it's phenomenal. I'm blessed to watch her."

Cuchran has been blessing softball fans in the area for four years now.