NCS Senior of the Year
ROSE MALEN, MARIN CATHOLIC
Marin Catholic fell short of a North Coast Section title, but not for a lack of toughness from its ace Rose Malen. And because of
that grit and determination, not only in the playoffs, but all season as a senior leader on a very
young Marin Catholic team, Malen has been selected as the Prep2Prep North Coast Section Senior
of the Year.
“I am feeling full of gratitude and excitement,” said the Chapman University-bound pitcher, who is also an accomplished hitter.
“I’m super happy to be recognized as the top senior in the North Coast Section. This award means
so much to me.”
From the circle, Malen was 17-4 with an impressive 0.71 ERA and 284 strikeouts and a mere 13 bases on balls in 157 innings. Her
high water mark for strikeouts was 19 during a three-hit shutout in a 5-0 win against St. Ignatius.
She had 14 or more strikeouts 11 times. The 284 strikeouts breaks the school record of 247 set
by the young woman Malen backed up for three years, current incoming Cal sophomore Annabel Teperson.
Malen didn’t even hit for her West Bay Warriors travel ball team, but for the Wildcats, she was one of the team’s leading hitters.
She batted .329 and her 26 RBIs led the team.
The season ended for Malen and the Wildcats in an NCS D2 title game loss to Benicia, but it was in the semifinals that Malen
solidified herself as a top candidate for all-NCS honors when she outdueled Taylor Rodriguez
of Livermore in an 11-inning 8-3 victory.
With the score tied 3-3 going into the top of the 11th, Malen almost hit a three-run home run off Rodriguez but the ball was
just short of the fence. The ground-rule double that bounced over the fence drove in two runs
and the game winners after she retired the side to seal an 8-3 victory. Rose also an earlier
RBI, and in the circle she had 17 strikeouts and only gave up three hits and a walk in 11
innings against one of the top teams in Northern California.
The Livermore game stood out when Malen was asked about her best assets.
“I think that some of my best assets are staying focused and never giving up during games,” Malen responded. “One game that sticks
out to me is when we played Livermore in the NCS semifinals.”
“That game was definitely agonizing as we went to 11 innings, but I never gave up on my team and tried to encourage them to keep
the energy up and play hard even when we had been playing for what felt like forever,” Malen
continued. “I think this assert of staying focused and never giving up can be seen through my
entire season as we had many games that went extra innings and many that were only won by a single run.”
That might be an understatement.
In the Wildcats' first game against Marin County Athletic League archrival Redwood, Malen lost 2-1 in 10 innings despite tossing
a three-hitter with 16 strikeouts. She lost again to Redwood 2-1 in nine innings on
another three-hitter with 13 strikeouts. Two weeks later in the MCAL playoff semifinals, she
beat NCS Division III champion San Rafael 2-1 in nine innings on another three-hitter with
14 strikeouts.
Malen got revenge against Redwood and fellow senior and Giants ace Sadie Leonard in the next two playoff outings, but it was
anything but easy. The MCAL title game went 10 innings with Malen pitching a one-hitter
with 17 strikeouts in a 1-0 victory. After a seven-inning NCS D2 opening round 3-1 win over Moreau
Catholic, in which she had a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts, it was Malen versus Leonard
once again. This time it went to 11 innings in a 3-2 victory in which Rose not only pitched
a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts, she also had the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 11th.
What makes Rose’s achievements even more remarkable, is although Marin Catholic batted last in that game,
and all others throughout the season where they were the designated home team, all their games
were on the road since Marin Catholic has no softball field.
“Rose was invaluable to our team,” said Marin Catholic head coach David Albini. “Obviously all successful teams need a
great pitcher, but we were extremely young with four freshman starters and her ability to get
strikeouts kept us in games and took a ton of pressure off our defense.”
“Having her contribute at the plate with the best hitting season of her four-year high school career was icing on the cake,”
Albini continued. “As the season moved forward we began counting on her at the plate as much
as in the circle – and she delivered.”
Malen was not a loud or rah-rah type of player, but she was definitely a leader and someone the young players looked up to.
“I tried to step up as I was only one of two seniors on the team,” Malen said. “I felt as though I was definitely a leader
through encouraging my teammates to try their hardest during practice and during the games,
as well as trying to help some of the younger players to improve their skills.”
“Rose did her leading at practice and on the field. She was one of the hardest workers, especially when it
came to her hitting, and you could see the results," added Albini. "What you saw on the field is what she
expected from her teammates. She wanted everyone to be successful and got excited when they were.”
Not only is Malen a hard worker on the softball field, she also excelled in the classroom, where she had a 4.35 GPA.
Malen was also the No. 1 golfer on the Marin Catholic golf team and qualified for the NCS championships even after what for
her was a below average score of 84 at the MCAL championships.
Now, Rose is off to Chapman where besides fighting for time in the circle she will study business with an emphasis on marketing.
“I will be coming in as one of four pitchers for this next season,” Malen said. “So I’m very excited to help this team defensively
through pitching, but also just being a very encouraging teammate and learning from the more
experienced players.”
That recipe worked at Marin Catholic where she bided her time and learned from Teperson, encouraged teammates and took
on a leadership role as a senior, and in the end earned the Prep2Prep North Coast Section
Senior of the Year award.
Other players considered include Vintage's Shelby Morse, Livermore's Taylor Rodriguez and Granada's Makayla Winchell.
|
