School: Harry S. Truman
Volleyball, Softball
Favorite athlete~ Derek Jeter
Favorite team~ New York Yankees
Favorite memory competing in sports~ “Competing in the Canada Cup 2008 (British Columbia, Canada) and all my high school games I have pitched in.”
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports~ “Running onto the field for a game, then tripping and falling as soon as I reach the chalk line on dirt (my teammates and coaches frequently remind me not to trip on the line lol).”
Music on iPod~ Taylor Swift, The Fray, Rascal Flatts, Jesse McCartney, among many others
Future plans~ Attend college (4-yr. BS in Nursing)....start my life~ married, work, and kids :)
Words to live by~ “Live, laugh, love.”
One goal before turning 30~ Visit Australia
One thing that people don't know about me~ “I eat ice cream for breakfast and waffles for dinner!!! YUM!” ;)
Rachael Alligood re-invented herself on the mound last winter.
The Harry S. Truman junior basically threw out everything she had learned about pitching since the age of eight and started over. Gone from her arsenal this season is a full repertoire of pitches, and Alligood is left with just two – a fastball and change-up.
It was, she admits, risky business.
“I didn’t think I would be effective enough to win games,” Alligood said. “I was pretty nervous how I would actually perform.”
The junior hurler needn’t have worried. She is not only winning, she’s been all but untouchable.
Last Thursday, Alligood – who has been clocked at 67 MPH from 43 feet - tossed a no-hitter in Truman’s 9-0 win over Council Rock North, fanning eight.
On Wednesday, she did not allow a hit in the Tigers 17-0 rout of Bensalem that was halted after four innings because of the mercy rule. Ten of the 12 outs were Alligood strikeouts.
In case that wasn’t enough, Alligood – who bats clean-up and boasts a dazzling .800 batting average – had three hits and two RBIs in the win over Rock North. She had a home run in the Tigers’ romp over Bensalem.
“Rachael is a strong girl,” Truman coach Gretchen Cammiso said. “She swings the bat hard, she throws the ball hard, and she does everything 100 percent.”
Alligood carries that mentality into the classroom where she is an honors student.
“That’s number one,” she said of the academic aspect of her life. “If I get anything less than a 90 percent, I don’t like it. I like A’s.”
If it seems as though such an accomplished athlete and student might take herself very seriously, guess again.
“Basically, I’m a character,” Alligood said. “I like to keep it serious on the field because I know what I have to do, but off the field, I’m the goofiest kid you’ll meet.
“I like to have fun and laugh and just mess around with people.”
There’s a running joke on the softball team about Alligood’s propensity for falling – she once tripped over the chalk line, and on the Truman softball web site, the junior pitcher jokingly lists ‘every successful attempt to stay on my feet’ as her most memorable sports moment.
“She’s the kind of kid – if you hear a scuffle and someone’s lying on the floor, it’s Rachael,” Cammiso said. “We joke about her all the time because she’s so clumsy and accident prone. I do the sign of the cross every time just hoping she’ll get down to first base safely.
“She doesn’t take herself seriously. She’s a goof ball off the field and a competitor on the field.”
Alligood takes the good-natured ribbing in stride.
“I’m known to be the clumsiest person on the team,” she said with a laugh. “When you look back, it’s all for fun. You need to laugh at yourself because it’s fun.”
In an era when high school sports has become all but a business to some, Alligood is a breath of fresh air, and despite her irrepressible sense of humor, the Truman junior is the consummate competitor.
“I cannot even say enough about her as a person and as a player,” Cammiso said. “On the mound, if she’s struggling, you will never see it in her face. If her teammates are struggling behind her, you’ll never see it in her face.
“She just has that mentality that a pitcher needs to have.”
Alligood has been pitching since she was eight years old. As a freshman, she transferred from a private Christian school to Truman. It turned out to be a win-win for everyone involved.
In ninth grade, Alligood was 3-0 while biding her time behind a senior starter. She was the Tigers’ mound ace as a sophomore but struggled with her control.
“Last year she had the whole bag of pitches that most pitchers say they have,” Cammiso said. “We realized if she’s going to continue on to the next level, which she has the potential to do, those pitches really weren’t working.
“The location was off, the consistency was off, and the motion was off.”
Alligood decided to do something about it and began working with a new pitching coach – former Pennsbury star Lauren Cognigni, who went on to have a record-breaking career at St. Joe’s.
Nothing has ever been the same.
“There was a lot of mechanical stuff in my previous motion that wasn’t up to par with what it needed to be to get the results I wanted,” Alligood said. “We broke it down and basically started from square one with everything.
“In the beginning, it was hard to get over the fact that I did need to start from scratch because you build up to that point through your entire years, so it’s kind of a blow because you have to take three steps back.
“Once I finally committed to it 100 percent, I started to see some improvement, and as I believed more in the coach and in myself, I started to progress. I got the results I wanted.”
Those results include a 4-0 start and a pair of no-hitters.
“What she’s done is she’s been able to locate and spot her fastball with much more consistency,” Cammiso. “When she’s on, she’s almost unhittable.
“Against Council Rock North, her strikeout total was a little bit lower than usual, but no one hit the ball that hard. Absolutely nothing was hit to the outfield.”
Alligood, who plays travel softball with the PA Sports Connection, admits it’s been a good start, but it’s only a start.
“I know it’s going to help me in the long run, so basically, I’m relieved and excited to see the progress I’m going to make,” she said. “I just can’t wait to see what happens when I add the new pitches, how much more effective I’ll be.”
For now, Alligood will rely on two pitches and celebrate every win with her friends at her restaurant of choice – McDonald’s. Her usual order consists of a medium Hi-C or Coke, two double cheeseburgers and a McFlurry.
“That’s kind of our power,” she said. “That’s my secret.”
College is still a year away, but Alligood lists Towson as her top choice with plans to major in nursing.
“That’s my wish list,” she said.
Until then, Alligood, who also plays for Truman’s varsity volleyball team, will juggle a schedule that includes softball, studying and, of course, having fun.
“It’s hard to balance it all, but you know the things you have to do,” she said. “It ends up working out in the end. You have to manage your time and have fun in between.”
So far it’s been a winning combination for the hard-throwing right hander who took a risk and is reaping the dividends.
