Catching, Pitching, Playing Infield, Canterbury's Krissy Longstreet Has an Impact

Opponents of Canterbury High School's softball squad must think Krissy Longstreet is an optical illusion.

In some games Longstreet pitches. And pitches quite well.

In other games Longstreet catches, and she's a dynamite catcher.

In a few games, if in a pinch, Longstreet will play third base.

Although she changes positions often, one thing doesn't change: Her talent.

Longstreet's days at the St. Petersburg school are numbered. In a few weeks when she has thrown her last pitch for the Crusaders, caught her last pitch for the Crusaders, fielded her last ball for the Crusaders, Longstreet will take her talents to Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., where she is expected to catch and maybe play third base.

"They want me for my bat," Longstreet said.

Canterbury wants her for her all-around play.

Pitching and catching virtually every game has allowed Longstreet to greatly improve her play, so she believes.

"I think it helps me calls pitches for our pitcher and it helps me understand what I want to throw when the batter is in the box," Longstreet said. "It helps me as a hitter too because I know what a pitcher wants to throw and what I would call as a catcher."

Currently, Longstreet is hitting .353 while as a pitcher she is 3-1.

But it is her defense that makes Longstreet stand above the crowd. Possessing a cannon for a right arm, Longstreet loves to pick off opposing baserunners at first base.

And her coach Jody Moore encourages it, giving Longstreet a permanent green light to fire at first base.

"Without defense being so great we are always backing up [bases] so she has the flexibility to throw it. We just let her go."

"I love picking off runners," Longstreet said. "Any way I can help my team out and I can control things, I'm all for it."

Though Longstreet enjoys pitching, catching is her first love because of her defense she said.

"I like being able to see the field and help my teammates out and pick runners off of first and block the plate," Longstreet said. "A catcher and a pitcher touch the ball every pitch. They control the game. I like that.