Addition By Subtraction
5/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Rachael Knapp's loss was Central Michigan's gain.
Knapp, a senior pitcher, has been nothing short of brilliant throughout her senior season, a little lighter on her feet, a lot heavier in her impact on the game.
She has led the Chippewas to their first Mid-American Conference regular-season softball championship since 2004 and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament, which begins on Wednesday. They open against eighth-seeded Western Michigan at 1 p.m. The championship game is slated for Saturday.
CMU is seeking its first MAC tourney title since 2013, and just its second since 2002.
In a pitcher's game, where a team is only as good as the athlete in the circle, the Chippewas have been very good, bordering on historically good.
Knapp? As good as there has been in the MAC in 2017, and one of the very best to have ever worn a CMU uniform.
"Rachael Knapp has been lights-out this year," said Margo Jonker, who is in her 38th year as the Chippewas' coach and has led CMU to a record 10 MAC regular-season championships. "She has really worked hard to get herself in great shape mentally and physically to be able to lead this team."
Mental and physical? A chicken-and-egg debate.
Knapp, who hails from St. Joseph in southwest Michigan, said she has dropped some 75 pounds since her freshman season. The final 20 of those pounds came off after the end of the 2016 season, when she made nutrition a top priority.
"Coming here I'd never been pushed that hard before, especially running, conditioning and lifting (weights)," Knapp said. "That was certainly a wakeup call.
"Last summer I really focused on eating healthy as well. It's not only the lifting and conditioning, but it's the eating. I think that's why I'm lasting so much longer this year because I'm eating healthy and I'm making sure my muscles are recovering. And I trained like I was supposed to.
"You have to tell yourself no and it's hard to tell yourself that sometimes."
One category that is indicative of Knapp's improved fitness level is complete games. She has 25 of them, which leads the MAC and is tied for the most in program history.
Among those complete games are extra-inning victories against MAC foes Akron (12 innings), Kent State (11 innings) and Toledo (nine innings). In those three games, Knapp logged a combined 32 innings, struck out 36, and, amazingly, did not allow a run. She has 10 shutouts on the season, three more than any other pitcher in the MAC.
Among Knapp's other standout numbers:
• She is 21-8 with a 1.39 earned run average. She leads the MAC in wins, and ranks second in ERA, opponent batting average (.191) and strikeouts (235). In league games, Knapp is 11-4 and her ERA is 1.02, far and away the best in the league.
• Her next appearance will be her program-record-tying 36th of the season, and she needs just 6 2/3 innings from setting the Chippewa record for innings pitched in a season. She has appeared in 135 career games, more than any pitcher in CMU history.
• She ranks in the top 10 in program history for a single season in wins and strikeouts.
• On the CMU career list, Knapp is second in strikeouts (802), innings pitched (732 2/3) and complete games (81); and is third in wins (68) and fifth in shutouts (24).
• She was a Third Team All-Region pick in 2015, and last year earned Second Team All-MAC honors.
"We've had some great pitchers, we've had some All-Americans, we've had some great pitchers take us to the World Series, take us to championships, be pitcher of the year in the conference," Jonker said. "I think she's right up there."
The improved fitness has manifest itself in better numbers, and in Knapp's on-field presence.
"I didn't realize I had changed that much in four years," she said. "It means a lot to me too because that shows how hard I've worked. I guess I never realized that until I went home last summer and people didn't recognize me.
"It's a combination. The weight loss, the confidence - knowing that I can do so much more and can do so much better. It even comes from knowing my teammates saw that hard work that I had done and they have this confidence in me, they know I can do it. I think the team's confidence in me has helped me tremendously. I do it for them. It's like, `Oh I can do it.'"
She absolutely can. There is nothing like confidence, a byproduct of success, all of which feeds the self-esteem and has helped Knapp grow into a capable and competent young woman, on the field and off.
"I've always been a shy person," said Knapp, who is majoring in therapeutic recreation. "I had to give a speech at our senior banquet and I don't think could have ever done that before. I am a lot different."
So is the team, which has already etched its name in the annals of CMU softball with its regular-season MAC title and its 37 victories, the most by a Chippewa team since 2002.
Knapp and Co. got a person-to-person look at Chippewa athletic royalty when the 1987 CMU squad, which finished fifth in the Women's College World Series, was honored between games of a doubleheader at Margo Jonker Stadium in late April.
"They were all making speeches and talking about how special their season was," Knapp said. "And it was always, `We didn't necessarily have the talent; we had the chemistry.' It's like what we've been saying this whole year."
A good number of the women who played on the '87 team have annually attended games and alumni functions over the years. Knapp said the message she picked up on is that "this (team's) different.
"They say, `We can't pinpoint it, but it's different. It's very special.' Having them say that, it's really cool because we respect them so much. You just see the pride that they have and you kind of reflect on that because it's like, `We're like that.'"
