Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 26, 1994 TAG: 9405260166
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ronda Rankin was a freshman last year when Glosser arrived as the other pitcher in Salem's softball program. The two have contrasting styles. Rankin is a power pitcher who lives by the strikeout; Glosser finesses hitters to hit the ball to her defense.
"I didn't know about Ronda," Glosser said. "She scared me at first, but she was real nice. I was afraid I wouldn't get to play. It wasn't that big a deal, though."
The two pitchers have become good friends and quite a 1-2 punch. Going into Friday's game against Northside, Rankin was 6-1 with a 1.10 earned run average, including 56 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched. Glosser was 5-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 44 innings.
Last year, when the two pitched the Spartans to the Group AA state tournament, they combined to go 17-5. Rankin had an 0.91 ERA; Glosser's ERA was 1.95.
"Pam throws an off-speed pitch all the time. She has a fast windup and a slow release and is more of a ground-ball pitcher," says Jim "Shorty" Wright, Salem's coach.
"Ronda has a riser, a change-up - two or three pitches she can use," Wright says. "I saw her four years ago in recreation ball and she was about the best we've had in rec ball. If she keeps growing, it's hard to tell how good she'll be."
Wright loves to start Glosser in a game, then bring on Rankin. The change in speed keeps opposing hitters guessing.
Of the two, Rankin is the better hitter. Rankin was batting .510 with four homers and 24 RBI in 16 games. Last year, she hit .443 with eight homers and 52 RBI in 26 games. Rankin won't approach last year's RBI total and she might not equal her home run figure.
"They're walking Ronda a lot more this year," Wright says. "Last year, she had 11 walks in 26 games. This year she's walked 12 times in 16 games. Her first time up at Alleghany, she tripled and they rolled the ball to her [for an intentional walk] the next time. Lord Botetourt did the same thing after she hit a homer."
Glosser is fairly new to softball. She didn't play until her freshman year in high school.
"Softball looked interesting and I had some good friends who were playing," says the Salem senior.
Rankin started playing when she was very young. She credits her father, Ron, with teaching her to hit. Her father had played baseball in high school and then started playing softball when he lived in Bellaire, Ohio.
"When I was 6 years old, I was pitching. I had a slingshot pitch," Rankin says.
When Salem won the 1991 Group AA title, Rankin was impressed, though she didn't get to see that team play.
"I heard a lot about them and couldn't wait to get to high school," she says.
Coaches on the high school level were talking about a young phenom in junior high school who would be one of Salem's great pitchers. When Rankin arrived last year, the Spartans had a veteran club and figured to have a shot at their second state title.
Rustburg pitcher Katie Phillips, a sophomore, blanked Salem 5-0 in the Region III tournament, then beat the Spartans 2-0 in a Group AA semifinal. Rankin matched Phillips' three-hit pitching in the state game, but the Red Devils manufactured enough offense to win en route to the state title.
"That was the state championship game," says Hugh Pendleton, Rustburg's principal. "Salem was the best team we played."
Phillips and Rankin might meet again next week in the Region III tournament.
Glosser and Rankin say if the Spartans get another shot at Phillips this year, they can adjust and find the necessary offense to win.
Last spring that seemed unlikely. There were rumors Rankin might transfer to Glenvar.
"I didn't want her to go and I didn't think it would happen," Glosser says.
"I would have hated to have lost her. I even heard they [the Rankins] might move to Tennessee," Wright says.
Rankin says she didn't transfer to Glenvar because her brother, Ronnie, wouldn't have been able to go to school with her. The Tennessee move would have been to live with her mother's sister in Loudon.
Now such talk is history and the Spartans can concentrate on the district semifinals today at the Moyer Complex in Salem.
by CNB