“Reaching 500 strikeouts had been a goal of mine. I had wanted 100 strikeouts a season ever since I started pitching. I wanted to get number 500 at the start of my senior year,” recalls Sherwood Christian Academy senior pitcher Anna Laine Brock. At the beginning of her senior season, Brock knew she was close. She had been pitching for Sherwood’s varsity softball team since eighth grade and had averaged more than 100 strikeouts a year. She just didn’t know exactly how many she had.
Thankfully, there were folks keeping count. When Sherwood made the short trip across town to play rival Deerfield-Windsor in late August, the countdown was underway. And Brock had no idea. Everyone around her kept it a secret. When she took the field that August afternoon at Deerfield-Windsor, she noticed an unusually large crowd in the stands. She just figured they were there because of the rivalry. Brock went through her pre-game routine, same as always. When the game began and she took the mound, she focused on each batter as usual, trying to remember what her coaches had taught her all these years. “I have always been taught to get ahead early and be confident. I try to remember the little things on each pitch, making sure I do everything the same each time,” she says.
On that particular day, Brock noticed that her stuff wasn’t dominant. She was getting people out and doing what she needed to in order to keep the Eagles in the game. But she wasn’t overpowering. Through the first couple of innings, Brock recorded a few strikeouts, each one getting her closer and closer to 500. After her 499th strikeout, she felt no pressure, no nervousness. She didn’t know she was one strikeout away. She used a drop and a rise to get two strikes. Seeing how the rise worked so well on the second strike, she went with the same pitch. The batter went down on strikes. The stands erupted. “I didn’t know what everybody was cheering for. Then I saw a sign in the stands that said ‘500.’ I heard the announcer mention it to the stadium. They stopped the game, the umpire gave me the ball, all that. It was very nice of them to do that for me,” she says.
Sherwood would go on to win the game.
Brock would go on to strike out 109 more batters this year. The Eagles made it to the playoffs but lost in the second round. Brock’s softball career ended with that playoff loss. She has opportunities to play softball in college but has decided not to do so. “I want to focus on academics. I could play in college but I’m not going to,” she says. Brock will attend Samford University in Birmingham where she will pursue a degree in physical therapy. “I already know a lot about physical therapy – I’ve had enough of it from playing softball,” she laughs.
As Brock transitions into the next phase of her academic career, she will take with her the lessons she learned on the softball field. “I’ve learned humility, how to work hard to achieve your goals, and how to maintain schoolwork in the face many distractions. I’ve also realized just how blessed I am. All these gifts come from the Lord. These aren’t things I can do on my own,” she says.
Anna Laine Brock began playing softball when she was nine years old. After sixth grade, she started taking pitching lessons. Her coaches picked several girls to throw a few pitches to see which ones had the most potential. Brock was one of those chosen. She was told she had good natural mechanics. Brock attributes that to her years as a . . . ballerina! From age three to 10, she took ballet. The skills she mastered as a young ballerina carried over into softball. Once she started taking lessons, her pitching only improved, eventually helping her become one of the most prolific pitchers in Sherwood history.
Special Feature/South Georgia/December 2013
Anna Laine Brock
Sherwood Christian Academy
Albany, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
Sherwood senior pitcher sets school strikeout record
Photography submitted by Brock Family & Kim Russell, K&R Photography
