Posted: 5/2/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Donald Eggert

You're Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head softball coach. It's the top of the third inning of a March 30 doubleheader at Buckeye Field in Columbus, Ohio, and your team leads Illinois 1-0 in the first game. You watch as Angelena Mexicano, the Illini's dangerous No. 2 hitter, feared for her ability to manufacture runs with one sweet swing of the bat, as she steps to the plate. The first pitch from your hurler, junior Kim Reeder, is fouled off. The next two are balls. Now, with one out and the count in favor of Mexicano, you have a decision to make.

You look over to the on-deck circle, where Shanna Diller awaits. Diller is capable of just as much damage as Mexicano, even more so if Mexicano reaches base. Still, you see the current hitter and count as a greater threat, and perhaps you and Reeder would like to take your chances with a fresh count and Diller. Reeder throws two more balls, and Mexicano walks on five pitches. Diller steps to the plate.

The right-handed Reeder throws her first pitch to the lefty Diller, and a strike is called. You watch as a ball, called strike, two foul balls and two more balls follow. It's now a 3-2 count, and pitcher and batter dig in for the payoff. The pitch is delivered, and you cringe as Diller makes contact - exit stage left. The ball flies over the fence in left-center field, and just like that, the Illini lead your Buckeyes 2-1. What went wrong?

The reality is that nobody could blame Coach Kalafatis for pitching around the senior shortstop Mexicano, who leads the nation in home runs with 24 and is tops in the Big Ten with 62 RBIs.

This is a conundrum every Illini opponent faces each time through lineup. It's a pick-your-poison situation: Mexicano or Diller. Illinois head coach Terri Sullivan imagined what it'd be like in the opposing dugout, being forced to face these two.

"I think I'd need a couple Tylenol," she said with a laugh. "I know it's very difficult for the teams that we face. The teams really have to locate their pitches and not make many mistakes to either one of them. You really just have to go at them, which allows them to try to win the pitcher-hitter battle."

The battle began four years ago in the spring of 2004, when Mexicano and Diller began their Illinois softball careers. The duo finds its roots in two different parts of the country - Mexicano from San Jose, Calif., and Diller from Bloomington, Ill. Upon arriving in Champaign-Urbana, the distance between the two went from 2,134 miles to less than one. With the exception of one Diller sick day this season, the two have started in each of the 218 games since day one of freshman year. Their maturity and growth over this stretch didn't go unnoticed.

Continued...

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