School: North Penn
Basketball, Softball
Favorite athlete: Shane Victorino
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Competing in states with the girls’ basketball team this past year.”
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “After successfully stealing second base, sliding past the bag and then being tug out.”
Music on iPod: “A little bit of everything”
Future plans: Attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania and play softball while majoring in Special Education
Words to live by: “There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” Derek Jeter
One goal before turning 30: “Start a family and be involved in a career I love.”
One thing people don’t know about me: “The ‘dimple’ on my left cheek is actually a scar from when I was accidentally hit by a golf club backswing when I was three.”
Rick Torresani – without any reservations – calls Mary Ward the best third baseman he has ever had, and the North Penn coach has had quite a few outstanding third basemen during his 31 years on the sidelines.
“I’ve been really lucky,” the Maidens’ coach said. “We have had a lot of really good third basemen at North Penn, and Mary is by far the best.”
What sets Ward apart from the rest?
For starters, there’s the little matter of quickness as well as a strong and accurate arm.
“The amazing thing is – in all the years I’ve coached, I’ve never had a third baseman charge a ball the way she charges a ball on a bunt and also be able to field a line drive to her right or left without hesitation,” Torresani said. “She’s the only third baseman I’ve ever had that could field the bunt or field a slow roller with a girl on first and throw her out at second.
“With Mary, that’s what we look to do. In fact, we practice that on almost a daily basis. As soon as she has the ball, she knows exactly how much time she has, so it’s her decision to make that throw to second. If we can get that lead runner in that situation, that’s devastating to a team because they don’t expect that.”
In the Maidens’ recent game against Pennridge, Ward left coach Scott Didra shaking his head after she gunned down the Rams’ lead runner at second on a bunt down the third base line that would have been a sacrifice against just about everyone.
Except Ward and the Maidens.
“At that point, I was thinking I had to pick up my teammates, and the most helpful play would be to get the out at second,” she said. “I love making the ordinary plays, but there’s nothing like making that play that people aren’t expecting. That’s what I love to do.”
“The other teams just don’t expect it,” Torresani said. “She doesn’t even look toward second when she throws. She just takes it and throws it.
“That ball is 90 percent of the time right at the throwing hand, so all the girl has to do is catch it and throw if we want to go for the double play.”
So fluid, so smooth is Ward on the softball diamond that Torresani is convinced she could play almost anywhere.
“Her arm is so strong,” he said. “She could play center field and cover the whole area and be the best centerfielder I’ve ever had.
“Who’s to say if she played shortstop – she might have been able to do that too.”
Interestingly, basketball was Ward’s sport of choice as a youngster although she played community softball as well.
“Believe it or not, I was a pitcher, but we soon found out that wasn’t my strong suit,” Ward said. “There was a rule in rec league – if 10 runs were scored in an inning, they just automatically switched to the next half of the inning.
“I walked 10 runs in every inning. I’m surprised they still gave me a chance out there.”
She also played some shortstop, and the father of a friend liked what he saw and asked Ward to play on a select team. One thing led to another, and it wasn’t long before Ward was playing travel for the Montgomery Twisters 12-U team.
“My travel coach in 12-U liked my arm at third base, and ever since then I’ve never left,” she said.
Ward continued to play basketball for the Montgomery Magic travel team through eighth grade.
“That’s when I was really into basketball,” she said. “That’s when it was my priority.
“When I got to high school, they didn’t have a travel team my age group unless I wanted to do AAU, and that conflicted with softball. I had to make a decision, and I chose to focus on softball.”
It was after joining the highly competitive travel softball circuit that Ward became hooked on the sport.
“I loved the fact that it was a lifestyle,” she said. “It wasn’t just something to do to stay in shape or anything like that.
“I loved basketball because I could run around, but I felt most at home on the softball field. I had the strongest connection with my teammates, and I had grown up with them and the coaches.”
For the past two years, Ward has been playing for the Warrington Blue Thunder, a commitment that ensures her summer is filled with very little besides softball.
“My friends actually nag me all the time – ‘Don’t you ever get sick of it?’ and my answer is always, ‘No,’” she said. “I love the fact that I’m always getting ready for or coming from a softball practice or a tournament.
“It never ends. There are always opportunities to practice and play, and that’s what I love about it.”
Ward burst onto the high school scene as a sophomore and found an immediate home at third base. She has started every game for three years. Torresani, who is still puzzled why Ward didn’t try out for the varsity as a ninth grader, knew immediately he had inherited a special talent.
“You knew it right away because she was so quick playing the position,” the Maidens’ coach said. “She had such a strong arm, and fundamentally, she was really sound.”
Ward, who is hitting at a .400 clip this season, leads the Maidens in at-bats (62), hits (22), walks (six) and runs scored (18). She is equally comfortable hitting from either the right or left side of the plate.
Torresani briefly took Ward out of the lead-off spot this season but not for long.
“We moved her back because we needed her to lead off a game because she’s such a heady player,” he said. “She can slap, and if we have two outs and a girl on second or third, she’ll bat right. She has a lot of power from the right side.
“She’s a kid that has it all.”
Next year, Ward – who is also a very good student - will be taking her softball talents to Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she will be undeclared but leaning toward a special education major.
“I was always interested in IUP,” she said. “As I went through the college search, it was really always – where would I feel most at home?
“The coach described the program, and as I’ve been watching the players over the last season, I just knew I would fit in best there. I only applied to West Chester and IUP. I decided on IUP because I fell in love with it.”
The idea of playing collegiate softball began to take root as Ward watched players above her take their games to the next level.
“That really opened my eyes to what could be,” she said. “I knew that no matter what I didn’t want to stop playing softball, and playing in college would be such an awesome opportunity that I really wanted to take advantage of.”
Ward is a fierce competitor, a trait she took with her onto the basketball court where she was a starting guard for a Maiden squad that advanced to the state tournament this past winter.
“She hates to lose,” Torresani said. “You see it on the basketball court, you see it on the field.
“She does not like to lose, and she’s very upset when she does not do well. That’s the one thing she’s really going to need to work on next year at college. She’s a perfectionist.”
Being a perfectionist – by Ward’s own admission – is her biggest fault.
“I just don’t want to make a mistake because I know I’ll be thinking about it for weeks,” she said. “This year I learned a new technique from one of our coaches – I never say, ‘Don’t make a mistake’ when the ball is hit to me. I say, ‘Make a great play.’
“My teammates have confidence in me, and that gives me confidence more than anything.”
Ward – easy going and pleasant off the field - is defined by her intensity on the softball diamond.
“My friends say I’m such a different person on the field than when they see me off the field,” she said. “There are people I compete against, and then I’ll meet them off the field, and they’ll be so confused because I’m a completely different person.
“On the field, it’s my team versus the other team. I’m not there to build relationships and impress anyone. I’m so intense. I just block everything else out.”
Ask Ward what she will remember most from her high school playing days, and it’s not the wins or losses.
“The relationships and the bonding and the memories I made with my teammates on and off the field – I’ll take that with me after the season is over,” she said. “It was such an awesome experience having something to look forward to every day.”
For now, however, Ward and her teammates have some unfinished business to take care of as they focus on the upcoming district tournament.
“I’m so excited,” she said. “It’s a brand new season. This is what we wait for all year, and we’re ready to prove ourselves now.”
