Shortly after Francis Parker defeated Classical Academy 7-4 in a Pacific League softball game on Wednesday, Lancers’coach Jackson Wyatt had to check with his star shortstop to see if she would be attending practice the following day.
No, Keira Izumi replied. Baseball calls.
Izumi also plays shortstop and pitches for the Parker baseball team, which travels to Maranatha Christian for a 4 p.m. game. It’s a strange juggling act. Izumi has played a softball/baseball doubleheader three times this season, and her priority is baseball.
“Baseball is my first love,” the 5-foot-3 Izumi said. “I’ve played baseball my whole life. The first time I picked up a softball was last year.”
As a junior, Izumi hit .650 in softball and is about the same this year after going 1-for-3 with a smash that caromed off the abdomen of the Classical third baseman. She also scored Parker’s final run with only one out in the bottom of the second inning. That made it 7-2, and the Lancers (11-1, 2-0) watched as their final 13 batters recorded outs.
“I personally don’t have a problem with her (playing both sports),” Wyatt said. “She’s basically working on the same stuff, fielding grounders, taking cuts. She hasn’t missed a beat.
“I had reservations at first, but once I met her, she said all the right things. She’s a great kid. She’s very mature and smart.”
Izumi said she would entertain playing either sport in college next year.
“It depends on where I choose to go for academics,” she said. “That’s the priority for me.”
This summer, however, she will be trying out for the women’s national team in baseball and hopes to play in the Women’s Baseball World Cup in Canada in July.
“It’s a lot of work. Some weeks I’m playing five or six games a week,” said Izumi, who is considering Purdue and other universities. “It’s a lot of fun, though. It’s worth it.”
In Wednesday’s battle of one-loss teams, Parker (11-1, 2-0) took a 4-0 lead on hits by Mary Grandona, Olivia Urso, Evelyn Luo and Mimi Hamui, along with several miscues by Classical (7-2, 0-1), which saw its seven-game winning streak snapped with its first game in 12 days.
The Caimans answered with two runs in the second, getting big hits by Sofie Subka and Eleri Evans along with two errors by the Lancers, who scored three times in the second.
“That first inning got us,” Classical coach Jim Coyle said. “I don’t know if it was jitters or what, but that was like a seven-out inning.
“That’s what happens when you come back from spring break. But they’re fighters. There’ll be another day.”
Urso led the Lancers going 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Rebecca Ambriz was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Classical.
A freshman right-hander, Luo (10-1) yielded seven hits for the win. Zarina Key (3-2) took the loss, but Sunday McDuffy retired every batter she faced in three innings.
