Fisher twins square off in all-star affair
Staff Photo by Sam Martin
Sisters and lifelong teammates Jamie (left) and nicole Fisher found themselves on opposing teams during the Iowa girls coaches Association All-Star Series Monday at Waukee High School. Nicole doubled off of Jamie to drive in a seventh-inning run, but Jamie's Red team picked up the 4-1 victory.
By Sam Martin
The Record Sports
WAUKEE — It was the matchup they’d been waiting for.
Red team coaches Bari Parrott of Vinton-Shellsburg and Kevin Roling of Central Clinton wanted to see how their all-star catcher, Nicole Fisher, would fare against one of the state’s best pitchers, Jamie Fisher. It turns out, quite well.
With two outs in the seventh inning of the final Iowa Girls Coaches Association All-Star game here Monday, both the Red and Blue teams reinserted their star BCLUW players into the lineup: Nicole was hitting, Jamie was pitching.
“The coaches just told me Jamie’s going in for the final out and I’m going to hit off of her,” Nicole said. “I’m like, OK.”
After taking five straight pitches and working a full count, Nicole poked an outside fastball down the right-field line for an RBI double.
“It was fun,” Nicole said with a laugh. “I’m just glad I could hit her and I’m glad she didn’t strike me out.”
But Jamie’s squad got the last laugh, claiming a 4-1 victory, their second of the day. They beat the White squad 4-2 earlier in the day, behind four innings of one-run ball by Jamie in the circle. She also recorded a single and a sacrifice fly.
“It made me really nervous,” Jamie said of facing her sister and lifelong batterymate, but added with a grin: “I could’ve struck her out. It was fun.”
Nicole’s Blue team played to a 7-7, eight-inning tie in their first game against the White team. Entering the game in the fifth inning, she saw plenty of action, catching two foul pop-ups, recording an assist and tagging out two runners at home in the eighth inning. She went 1-for-2 with a walk, scoring what was then a go-ahead run in the fifth inning after going from first to third on a sacrifice bunt. Her batterymate for the game was Maddison Woodruff, whose Emmetsburg team fell to BCLUW in the 2009 Class 2A title game.
Their high school careers now complete, the sisters are headed off to play college ball. Jamie will pitch at Northern Iowa, and Nicole is headed to Winona State. Kris Penick, BCLUW’s last all-star representative in 2008, is set to play at Southwest Minnesota State, Winona State’s conference rival.
“It’s been a great five years with those two kids,” said BCLUW coach David Lee, who won his third straight District Coach of the Year award earlier in the day. “I think they’re both going to be successful when they go to college. They’ve been at the top of the level of the game for at least two years within the state.”
Both sisters said they will miss competing for BCLUW in the black and gold.
“It’s really sad that I won’t be able to again,” Jamie said. “There have been a lot of good memories though. It’s been fun.”
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