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A pair of aces

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Jeff Mankie/News & Messenger

Grace Nordan, left, and Devon Hileman have had a solid year for the Tigers.

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By Dave Utnik

Published: May 25, 2008

Grace Nordan fussed briefly with her brunette ponytail, diligently repositioning some stray locks so they fit neatly within a hair tie that was intentionally set just a bit off-center.
Then Brentsville’s 15-year-old pitcher grabbed her softball mitt and her best friend for a game of catch behind the home dugout.
That’s the routine before every Tigers’ game. Nordan and fellow sophomore Devon Hileman are basically inseparable. They warm up together, bat one after the other at the top of the lineup and even share small tasks like refilling an empty water bottle.
“We’re always together,” Nordan said. “What can we say?”
When they aren’t hanging out on weekends, discussing pitching strategy in the three classes they share or finishing each other’s sentences, Grace and Devon can usually be found on Brents-ville’s softball field.
It’s the place they most prefer because it is there that an unlikely friendship was forged last spring.
A year ago, as varsity freshmen, they were trust into the awkward position of having to compete for time in the pitcher’s circle, but a potential rivalry never materialized because each right-hander embraced the idea and discovered there were plenty of innings to share.
“It’s hard to find two pitchers who get along so well and are so competitive,” Tigers coach Amy Beard said.
And it never fazed either one of them that they were inheriting a position vacated by the pro-gram’s best pitcher in nearly a decade — Brittany Bailey, who had 575 career strikeouts and went 29-7 in her final two high school seasons.
“They never worried about that. The things they thought about were making their pitches and winning,” said Tigers junior catcher Kaitlyn Barbour, a .424 hitter who has five homers team-high 28 RBI.
“They’ve both just gotten so smart, knowing what to pitch and where to pitch it.”
With each inning — and each victory — Grace and Devon, who turned 16 in January, have ma-tured. They throw harder than they did as freshman and they’ve combined to score 35 runs at the top of the lineup.
“We’re taller, bigger and more cocky,” Hileman explained. “It’s not so much cocky, we’re just confident.”
Not surprisingly, they are both honor roll students with strikingly similar softball accomplish-ments: Nordan, who plays travel ball for the U16 Shamrocks, threw a no-hitter against Handley earlier this spring. She is 10-0 with a 0.66 ERA and 96 strikeouts, while Hileman, who pitches for the Vienna Stars during the summer, is 9-1 with a 0.94 ERA and 110 strikeouts.
Together they have helped the Tigers (19-1) earn a No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Region II Tournament.
“We’re very, very lucky to have not just one but both of them that we can count on every game,” Beard said.
Pitching is largely responsible for the Tigers’ best season since 1998 when they captured the Group AA state title, but this team is built to score runs, too. Around Barbour, the team’s cleanup batter, are four other all-Northwestern District hitters — sophomore shortstop Becki Tucker (.386), right fielder Emily Neitzke (.340), freshman Abby Carpenter (.490) and center fielder Tori Bowley (.382).
“There’s not as much pressure because we have a team of really good hitters to back us up and score a lot of runs,” said Nordan.
Most of the time, one or two runs is enough regardless of who the Tigers’ have in the circle. They went undefeated against district competition this spring with their only loss coming against Cedar Run District champion Battlefield — a Group AAA team.
After shutting out 2007 champion Millbrook 9-0 in the district tournament final, Brentsville will return to the field to face either Battlefield District champion Orange County or Dulles District runner-up Loudoun County at home on Wednesday.
Nordan, the reigning Northwestern District pitcher of the year, will be there early. She’ll have her ponytail carefully tied in place, a glove on her left hand and her best friend at her side.
For two seasons now, that’s been a winning combination.
“I knew when they came in they were going to do big things here,” Barbour said. “They are that good.”