Published: June 20, 2008 10:22 pm      

H.S. SOFTBALL: Casino, Wiley are US&J Co-Players of the Year

WILSON — One did it primarily with her mighty right arm, the other with her roadrunner legs, but ultimately, 2008 Lockport Union-Sun & Journal Softball Players of the Year Brittany Casino and Raela Wiley of Wilson did it with their heads.

In the legendary Hamlet of Lash, in the wonderful Town of Juferville, in the modest village of Wilson, Casino and Wiley were loud, large and aggressive voices on the Lakewomen softball team, guiding them to a third straight 2008 Niagara-Orleans League title and a trip to the Section VI Class B semifinals.

Casino, who was voted ’08 N-O Player of the Year as a centerfielder and lead-off hitter; and Wiley, a runner-up for the N-O Pitcher of the Year, led Lash’s talented team (13-1 N-O) to an impressive 20-7 overall finish.

“Brittany’s on-base percentage (.518) was remarkable,” Lash said of his .422 hitter, who racked up 21 stolen bases, scored 32 runs and drove in 10 more.

“And once she was on base, she was very capable of making you pay with stolen bases of second and third. She was the one our opponents wanted to make sure didn’t get on base because of what she could do with her speed,” Lash said.

Casino said she was honored at her selection.

“I’m really surprised at all the awards I’ve gotten this year for softball. I didn’t think I was that good at softball at all,” Casino said.

“I thought our team would be good again and that I would do about as good as last year — nothing special. But for some reason, we all clicked again well for some crazy reason.

“My key to stealing bases was being focused and taking off right at that moment when the pitcher releases the ball. You have to go all out and you can’t think about it,” Casino said.

Added co-player of the year Wiley about her teammate, “It’s definitely an honor to share this award with her because she’s an outstanding athlete who I look up to.”

Wiley finished 8-1 in the circle in the league (15-4 overall) with an incredible 86 strikeouts in 63 innings. That’s an average of 1.4 strikeouts per inning. Overall, Wiley posted a school-record 149 strikeouts, breaking Angela Scalzo’s decade-long record of 141.

In addition, opponents batted just .167 off her and she boasted a season-ending ERA of 1.91.

“Raela’s pitching is what brought us up this year It was a key factor most games. Without her pitching, we probably would not have won that many games,” Casino said.

Wiley has always been a good strikeout pitcher. Limiting her walks this season was the big reason for her success, Lash said.

“Slowly, but surely, through the years, Raela has brought her walks down to match her strikeouts. She could always strike people out and only ran into trouble in the past when she walked people,” Lash said.

Wiley said she’s put in a lot of work over the past few years and it started to pay off big time this past season.

“This was my first year as the starting pitcher and I had more confidence in myself, but it definitely took a couple of games in the beginning to get comfortable out there,” Wiley said.

“My goal for next season is perfecting my pitches. I wasn’t confident enough this year to use all of them. I stayed primarily with my fastball and change-up.”

Casino will major in pharmacy this fall at the University at Buffalo. She also plans to try out for the Lady Bulls softball team as a walk-on.