Plimpton Big East bound
Class 'A' State Player of Year signs National Letter of Intent with St. John's
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville South senior Chelsea Plimpton, sitting, middle, signed a National Letter of Intent on Thursday in the South faculty lounge. Also pictured sitting are her parents, Mark and Michelle. Standing are South softball coaches Gerry Gentner and Al Monaco. Photo by Joe Eberle

Arguably the greatest high school softball pitcher in Western New York history has found a home to play in college.

Williamsville South senior Chelsea Plimpton, who holds every South pitching record, signed a National Letter of Intent with St. John's University of the Big East on Thursday in the South faculty lounge. It is the fifth straight year a South player has signed with a Division I school.

"It's exciting," said Plimpton, who also looked at Syracuse University, Fordham University and Canisius College. "I wanted to play at the highest level and the Big East is one of those conferences. St. John's seemed to be the best fit."

It's very possible Plimpton will see significant playing time her freshman year. St. John's has two pitchers on its current roster, senior Kim Lerch and junior Lisa Geer. Another two will be incoming freshman.

"She's got the ability to come in and make an immediate impact," said St. John's coach Amy Kvilhaug, also the team's pitching coach. "It's going to depend on how she adjusts... I think Chelsea's a fighter and she's going to work her way in there pretty quickly. She's very good now and I only see an upside to her."

Plimpton already practices at South and plays travel ball with the TC Tremors at 43-feet, the required pitching distance from home plate for college softball. South coach Gerry Gentner said Plimpton's pitching speed will probably place her in the middle of the pack in Division I but her control, command, and accuracy on the mound will allow her to flourish.

"Her command and ball movement is something not easily found," Kvilhaug added. "You know when you find a quality pitcher and I knew right off the bat that Chelsea had good stuff."

Statistically, Plimpton is the best high school softball pitcher ever in Western New York. Through her junior year, she has an 83-5 record, which includes a 50-game win streak between her freshman and sophomore year, faced 2,053 batters, walked 33 batters and struck out 1,020. She has earned accolades at the Western New York (All-WNY First Team, All-ECIC and Pitcher of the Year), New York State (First Team All-State) level from her freshman through junior year. She also was named to the 2004 Third Team National Louisville Slugger All-American and 2006 Second Team All-American teams.

She was the winning pitcher for South on New York State Class A title teams in 2004 and 2006 and was named 2006 New York State Class A Player of the Year.

Heading into her senior season, she has already set state records for single-season all-time strikeouts (411) and strikeouts in a game (23). She can also break nine others this spring, including career wins, career no-hitters, lowest career and season ERA, most perfect games in career and season, career and season shutouts and career strikeouts.

"She's the best pitcher we've had and the best pitcher in Western New York statistic wise," said Gentner, who started working with Plimpton when she was in the third grade at a house softball league clinic. "She's just been a dream come true. She should have a fabulous career because she's worked harder than anybody I've coached before."

"I've been here for 37 years and I've never enjoyed watching somebody compete like I've watched you compete on the mound," said Williamsville Director of Athletics Dr. Jim Rusin to Plimpton during her signing. "I see you walking around school and I say 'gee she's a normal kid' and then I see you on that mound and you just turn into a great competitor. St. John's is lucky to have you."

Plimpton would like to major in communications with the hopes of becoming a sports broadcaster.

St. John's finished 27-30 last year and 8-14 in the Big East.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com