Maine West's Ott's got game

Emily Ott plans to be playing Division I softball next season for either Winthrop University in South Carolina or George Mason in Virginia.

The National Honor Society student wants to study sports management.

"I would like to do something in sports behind the scenes," she said.

Well, in high school, Ott has hardly been hiding.

She has been front and center as one of the area's top pitchers and hitters, helping lead her Maine West softball team to Central Suburban North titles in her two previous varsity seasons, plus an appearance in the sectional final last spring.

Her sophomore year took on special significance because she was able to pitch to her softball idol.

Her sister Hailey, now a sophomore at Georgetown University studying political science, was Emily's catcher in 2007.

"I look up to my sister," said Emily, an all-area selection who last year was 19-5 on the mound and batted .442. "She's my idol in life. If I go to George Mason, I'll be just eight minutes from her. She's intelligent. She worked so hard in sports and school. And she's just a great person."

Warriors coach Mike Murin also sees quality traits in Emily.

"Emily is all business when she steps on the field," he said. "But she has a great sense of humor and is a fantastic teammate and friend to all our girls. She constantly cheers for and encourages her teammates to be the best they can be."

Ott, the Warriors' MVP the last two years, started playing the game when she was 8 years old.

"It's actually a funny story," she said. "All my friends were playing baseball and I'd always see them coming home with trophies. I was jealous. So I said I'm going to try to play softball and I ended up loving it.

"My dad (Russell, who played baseball for Lane Tech) said maybe you should try and pitch. So I did and it just came naturally. I really loved it."

Russell was Emily's first coach.

"My dad really got me going," Emily said. "He would watch pitching videos with me. He caught for me. He set up an air mattress in our basement that I could throw at. And my mom (Karen) has always been a great support."

Murin provides support for all the Warriors.

"Mr. Murin listens and takes a lot of info from Jenna (Depa, a co-captain with Ott) and me that we share with him from our travel team," Emily said. "He likes to listen. He likes it when we bring our ideas out."

Ott can bring her fastball at more than 60 miles per hour, mixing it up with a drop and changeup.

"My favorite pitch is probably the changeup," she said. "It's not a pitch we throw too much. But when we do, it can be a killer. It can work so well."

Opposing batters know that quite well.

Ott's 18 strikeouts in a 10-inning game against Hersey last spring are a school record, as well as her 245 strikeouts, 13 shutouts and 19 wins in 2008.

In the summer before her sophomore year, Ott suffered an ACL injury while running between second and third base.

"I suddenly stopped running when I was going to run into the fielder and that's when it happened," said Ott, who is already hitting .364 this season and is 4-1 on the mound with 56 strikeouts.

She had surgery on the right knee in July of 2007 and rehabbed back into shape to become the Warriors' MVP the following spring.

Early this season, Ott had a scare when she heard the same right knee pop while pitching in Barrington's Spring Fling tourney.

"It was very scary," she said. "I was kind of freaking out because I heard a pop. That had never happened before."

A week later, Ott and the Maine West softball team were able to breathe a sigh of relief when it was determined she had only pulled a muscle.

"I saw the doctor and he moved my knee around and said it was not an ACL," Ott said. "I was so relieved. He said it could be a meniscus or a pulled muscle. I was hoping for the pulled muscle all the way.

"I iced it for about a week and wasn't feeling bad. Then it was back to normal. That could have been a bad ending to my senior year."

Instead, the senior appears primed for another stellar season.

"The neatest thing about Emily is the way she carries herself," Murin said. "She has a presence about her that shows a quiet, but strong confidence in her abilities. Just her being at practice or a game makes her teammates perform better. She is a natural leader, someone the girls look up to and go to for advice."

Ott owns a 3.68 GPA and is a member of the J. Kyle Braid Leadership Training program and a recipient of the IHSA Scholastic Achievement Award.

"Emily is a hard worker," Murin said. "She does a tremendous amount of pitching and hitting with her father in the off-season to improve her game.

"She likes to ask questions and discuss game situations and strategies to improve our team's understanding of the intricacies of the game."