RallyNorth.net

Hart making transition

Tuesday, April, 29 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

It hasn't been an entirely smooth adjustment, but Britt Hart has made the transition back to Brooks after spending last year at North Andover High, where she was the Eagle-Tribune Player of the Year for the Division 2 state finalists.

Actually, Hart has needed to make two adjustments at Brooks, where she was an Eagle-Tribune All-Star as a freshman. One has been the move of the mound back to 43 feet and the other has been to splitting time with Lindsey Theriault. At North Andover, she basically pitched every inning of every game.

"In a perfect world, I'd like to pitch every game, but I do like to play in the field," said Hart. "It gives you a change of pace."

As for the mound change, Hart thinks it was a good idea "because it provides more offense and it allows the pitcher to use more ball movement. It is an adjustment.

"The first time at 43 feet, I hated it. It felt like I wasn't getting enough power on the ball, but now I like it. Coming in to 40 feet now, it seems so close. I've always thrown a variety of pitches. I just don't throw as many fastballs now because you can't get away with it."

The results have been impressive thus far, even if her statistics aren't as overpowering as last year, when she was 20-1 with a 0.38 ERA at North Andover. Thus far for the 4-3 Green and White, Hart is 3-2 on the mound with a 1.00 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 28 innings. She's also hitting .391.

  "I think Britt is looking very good," said Brooks coach Andrea Heinze. "What's been tough is that she hasn't gotten as much defensive support as she should. Besides that, I think she's adjusted very well."