'So far, so good'

The fact that the calendar recently turned to May, and Richelle Ashburn is still in the circle for the Post Falls High softball team, is a victory in itself for both the Trojans as well as the senior right-handed pitcher.

Injuries cut short her season - at least the pitching portion of it - in each of her first three years in the Post Falls program.

"We sat down over the winter," Post Falls softball coach Jack Foster said. "We said we're going to baby you through, if we have to early, one game a day, at least until the weather warms up. We've been planning through the whole offseason."

So far, the results have proven the Trojans were wise to be cautious.

Heading into this week, Ashburn was 8-3 with a 1.03 ERA, 139 strikeouts in 75 innings. She's pitched two no-hitters (one a perfect game), four shutouts and has issued just 16 walks.

Her first two seasons ended early because of tendinitis in her wrist. Doctors watched her throw her pitches, and concluded it was the way she was throwing her riseball and screwball that was causing the problem.

"The torque that I put on my wrist, and the fact I practiced way too much, more than I should, it just wore down my wrist," the 5-foot-4 Ashburn said.

Changing the way she throws her pitches to put less stress on her wrist helped solve that problem.

Last year, Ashburn pitched five games before having to shut it down for the season due to tendinitis in her shoulder. Her pitching motion put too much stress on her rotator cuff. Anti-inflammatory pills, along with changing her workout regimen, has helped take the strain off her shoulder and wrist this year.

"I've worked more on my lower half, using my legs more instead of my arms and muscling the ball there," Ashburn said. "I put my whole body into the pitch."

Foster said the mild winter and the warmer spring weather (at least until recently) has also helped Ashburn this year. "It takes her a little while to get loose," he noted.

"It's been frustrating for her, especially the last two years. Last year, she had 19 strikeouts in two different games, and then we couldn't use her the rest of the year. That's why we thought we'd be real careful this year, make sure we got her through. It's worked out fine so far ... so far, so good."

Even after she was unable to pitch in each of the last three seasons, the Trojans were able to keep her bat in the lineup. This year, she's batting .340 with one home run, 11 RBIs, 13 runs, a .466 on-base percentage and a .447 slugging percentage for the Trojans, who began the week 10-6, 3-4 in the 5A Inland Empire League.

A lifetime Post Falls resident, Ashburn started pitching at age nine. She was a shortstop when her dad, Rich, suggested pitching. He also served as her catcher.

"I went to Ponderosa Elementary and my dad and I would practice there every single day," she recalled. "I'd get rewarded ... I'd get to go swimming if I hit so many spots. After getting a reward I got real good at it."

She tried other sports, like basketball and soccer, but quickly discovered that "pitching was my passion," she said.

Ashburn said her injuries never caused her to consider giving up the sport. But during the summer between her freshman and sophomore year, while playing select ball, burnout started to set in and she quit her summer team.

"I said I'm totally done. I quit forever," Ashburn said.

But one call to George Lynn, coach of the Spokane Sliders, changed her mind. She joined the Sliders.

"He got me excited," Ashburn said. "George opened my eyes to a whole new level of softball. He basically made me love the sport again. I probably wouldn't have wanted to go to college if I hadn't quit, because he brought me to a whole new level. Now I love it."

Ashburn committed last summer to Seattle U, where she'll join another pitcher from the Inland Empire League, Jessica Ulrich of Lewiston, next fall.

"She is a workhorse on the mound and has the mental toughness needed to succeed in college softball," Seattle U coach Dan Powers said of Ashburn.

Ashburn was being recruited by Seattle U, Weber State, Portland State and Bradley. Portland State and Bradley opted to sign other pitchers, leaving her choice between Weber State, located in Ogden, Utah, and Seattle U.

"It came down to location, and I really connected with the coach at Seattle," Ashburn said. "And I felt like my personality would fit in better with the team."

After college, Ashburn hopes to remain in sports somehow - perhaps as an athletic trainer or a nutritionist.

"My dad has definitely helped me out a lot," Ashburn said. "He's helped me throw, encouraging me through the hardest times when I didn't want to throw."

Ashburn wants to break the school's single-game strikeout record. She currently shares the record of 19 with Blake Meredith, a senior last year who is now at South Carolina-Upstate. She'd also like to help the Trojans make it to state out of the ultra-competitive but also wide-open 5A IEL. Post Falls hasn't been to state since 2006 - the year before this year's senior class entered high school.

"With Richelle throwing, we've got a chance in every game," Foster said.