Speed plus power: Linares, Carpenter making Palatine go

Nikki Linares and Caitlin Carpenter are the speed and power of Palatine's softball team.

Linares leads the team with a .485 batting average, 19 stolen bases and 26 runs.

Carpenter (.375) leads with 15 RBI and 8 doubles.

"I've never met two kids harder on themselves," said Palatine coach Jeff Manz of the two all-area standouts and senior leaders.

"Sometimes they are their own worst critics. They both need to realize the great softball players they have become the past four years.

"They've definitely exceeded all of my expectations for them. They expect so much of themselves. And they're both that way in the classroom, too."

When she was a little girl, Caitlin Carpenter sat home and loved to watch the Cubs' games on WGN.

"I remember watching Joe Girardi catching for them," she said. "I'd watch the games with my grandfather (Bruce) and he'd show me some of the things he (Girardi, now the New York Yankees manager) did.

"Maybe I picked up some of those things from watching so many games. And I'd always play catch with my parents and grandfather growing up."

Carpenter is a three-year varsity player who, as a sophomore, replaced Nicole Pauly at shortstop when the all-area standout had to miss her senior season with a knee injury.

Carpenter switched to full-time behind the plate as a junior and senior, becoming one of the best catchers in the area.

"I love catching because you're involved in every play," she said. "When I was little, my dad (Michael) said I should either pitch or catch, so I could be in every play. It always felt more natural for me behind the plate so that's the way I went."

Not only is she solid defensively, but with her bat as well.

"When runners are on base, Caitlin will drive them in," Manz said. "When Caitlin played short, she had real soft hands. And you see that when she catches and picks balls out of the dirt. I attribute that from her days playing short. You won't see a lot of passed balls on Caitlin."

You will see a good report card from Carpenter, too.

An A honor roll student and National Honor Society member, she ranks in the top five percent of her class and owns a 4.56 weighted grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.

She will play softball at Illinois Wesleyan and study English. She says she is leaning toward teaching and would like to coach.

Carpenter also served as setter for the Pirates volleyball team the last two years. Her top memories include playing with Pauly, Amy Mitchell and Karlee Quaritsch as a sophomore and starting for three years with Linares.

"It's nice to be able to finish my high school career with her as a teammate," Carpenter said.

Nikki Linares plans to study business at Illinois. Perhaps she'll try to walk-on to the softball team.

Rather, run-on, would be a better term for Linares, one of the fastest slap hitters around.

Linares ran all the way to an inside-the-park home run while leading off the bottom of the first against Schaumburg two weeks ago.

"When she gets on base, Nicole is going to score," Manz said. "She loves putting pressure on people. She loves being out on the bases."

Linares didn't love the idea of being turned around from the right side into a lefthanded slap hitter at first. But Manz made the decision when Linares was a freshman on the junior varsity team.

"He (Manz) did it because I was fast but I definitely didn't want to do it," she said. "I couldn't get it down. It was so awkward at first. But after a lot of hard work, it's paid off."

"She was reluctant at first," Manz said. "But when I looked at her speed, she was the fastest player I'd ever seen. As much as Nikki didn't want to do it, she dedicated herself to working at it and last year she was an all-stater and all-area. That just shows what Nikki can do when she dedicates herself to something."

Linares has also dedicated herself in the classroom as a National Honor Society member with a 3.78 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and she ranks in the top six percent of her class.

Linares may combine business with sports marketing, and math is her favorite subject.

Manz was right to make Linares into a slapper.

"I always had speed but when you're playing in the house leagues before high school, it's no big deal," Linares said. "But I remember coach Manz my freshman year when he saw me running and saying, 'Wow!"

Many infielders are probably saying "wow" when they field one of Linares's slaps as best they can and then she beats their throw to first.

In center field, she can get to the ball in an instant.

"She gets a good jump and can track balls down in the gap," Manz said. "I don't think she knows what a great athlete she is. She has been a pleasure to coach."