No luck in this deal, just a hard-working ace

By William Bowman
The Danville News

May 02, 2008 04:00 am

— BLOOMSBURG -- After firing a one-hit shutout the first time she ever put on a college uniform, Ashley Lynn thought she had the hang of things. She quickly realized, however, she wasn't in Danville anymore.
Her best in high school wasn't going to be nearly good enough in college. So she adjusted, the way great ones do.
Four quick years later Lynn's softball career, a mainstay in her life for more than a decade, is down to a few short weeks. She tries not to think about the end, but it does creep up now and then.
"It pops into my mind from time to time," Lynn said. "We were just at Millersville, and they're not going to the playoffs. We were there for Senior Day and their seniors were all bawling. So that makes you think about the end."
How long Lynn's career lasts, could rest squarely upon her shoulders. She leads the Bloomsburg University softball team into this week's PSAC Championships as one of the league's best pitchers. The Huskies (44-7) are the second seed out of the East and take on West No. 2 Indiana (16-24) in Thursday's opener.
The winner of the PSAC tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Bloomsburg, up nine spots to 10th in the Division II rankings this week, will likely gain an at-large spot even if they don't win the double-elimination event.
With finals set for this coming week and graduation next weekend, the math statistics and business economics major has a lot on her plate right now. But Lynn's not ready to put down the softball just yet.
"I'm going to enjoy these last couple of weeks," said Lynn. "I have to focus on each game because now it could be the last time I ever play."
Heading into this week's PSAC Championships -- which kick off today in Lock Haven -- Lynn already ranks among the greatest pitchers in BU history. She ranks in the top five in appearances, innings pitched and shutouts. Her 67 career wins is seventh all-time and by the end of this weekend, she should be the all-time strikeout leader in school history.
With 628 career Ks -- against just 79 walks -- Lynn is just eight strikeouts behind three-time All-American Tina Souders for the BU career mark. She is also less than 20 strikeouts out of the third all-time spot in PSAC history.
How Lynn got here wasn't always a smooth process.
Making changes
As a freshman, she appeared in 10 games as the Huskies went 45-10 and finished fifth nationally. She went 7-2 with five shutouts and an earned run average of 1.19.
Despite the early success, Lynn had some rough spots, which made her quickly realize she was going to have to change some things.
"I had to change the way I thought about the game," said Lynn. "In high school, there might be two or three players that make the team. In college, it's all nine, every spot in the order. The second game I ever pitched I gave up two home runs and I realized this wasn't high school."
As a star for Danville, Lynn could get by without being flashy. In three seasons inside the circle for DHS, she struck out more than 550 batters with an ERA around a half-run while leading the Ironmen to the Eastern Final as a junior.
Her fastball was dominant and she could spot it well enough that should could live on that pitch alone while sparingly mixing in breaking pitches.
In college, it wasn't like that.
"I definitely had to learn more about pitching in college" she said. "I had to get my breaking balls to break even more. In high school, you could get away with one or two bad pitches. Now, one bad pitch is a run for the other team."
College life
While adjusting to the college game, Lynn also had to adjust to life as a college student.
Despite going to school just a dozen miles from home, Lynn made sure to get the college experience, living on campus as a freshman before living off campus the past three years.
The classwork also provided a challenge. Not so much the volume of work as much as the way the lifestyle change forced Lynn to prioritize more and balance school work with softball.
"It was tough early on," she said. "You have to learn how to do it. It's class, then go work out, then back to class and then to practice. As I've gotten older, I've been able to juggle it better."
In her final semester this spring, Lynn needed just three classes to graduate. The lighter work load was part of three and half years of hard work and knowing how things work on campus.
Like most seniors, Lynn knows what professors to take and others to avoid.
"As a freshman, you really don't know anything about college," said Lynn. "You take whatever professors are available. The longer you're here, the more you learn about life here."
Learning from the best
One area where Lynn thought she would have to adjust turned into a pleasant surprise for her.
As a young phenom in Danville's Little League and on the ASA scene, Lynn always knew about Bloomsburg's presence as a dominant Division II program. She routinely attending coach Jan Hutchinson's camps each summer and when the legendary coach came calling, it was an easy decision.
What came as a surprise was how Hutchinson -- whose resumé is as impressive as any coach in any sport in NCAA history -- was so down to earth and exactly how Lynn remembered her growing up.
"It was kind of weird at first, because growing up and going to her camps, I knew how big a deal she was," Lynn said of her coach who has more than 1,600 combined victories in softball and field hockey to go along with 15 national titles. "But then you get here and she's so low key and humble. It sort of catches you off-guard."
From Hutchinson, Lynn said she learned about the game itself, how to think your way through every situation.
Assistant coach Susan Kocher, who works directly with the pitchers, has also been a big influence. A two-time All-American at BU, Kocher has coached seven Huskies to All-American status of their own.
"I've learned a lot from both of them," said Lynn. "Susan knows so much about pitching and with coach Hutchinson it is more about strategy."
Fitting in
After winning seven games as a freshman, Lynn has won a combined 60 games over the past three seasons, turning into one of the PSAC's dominant pitchers.
She went 18-10 as a sophomore followed it up with all-conference season in 2007, going 22-7 with 10 shutouts and 223 strikeouts. Both seasons the Huskies finished second in the PSAC East and were eliminated in the Mid-Atlantic Region final by Lock Haven, which won the NCAA title in 2006 and was second last year.
In last year's regional opener, Lynn tossed one of her two career perfect games, blanking North Carolina Central 5-0. She also threw a no-hitter and another perfect game as a junior last spring, earning first-team PSAC East honors.
This season, as the unquestioned ace of the staff, Lynn has been just as strong. She is 20-3 with an earned run average of less than a run entering PSACs. She has seven shutouts and fanned 170 batters, bringing her career total to 628.
Now her career hinges on her success at the PSAC and Regional championships.
With the Huskies taking on an IUP team with a losing record in the opener and facing a possible second-round matchup with the West's top seed and host Lock Haven, Lynn will likely pitch in the second game against the Bald Eagles (40-6).
Since Lynn's arrival at BU, the PSAC has become one of the most balanced and talent-rich conference's in the entire nation, especially with the emergence of Lock Haven and All-American pitcher Kristin Erb.
"The talent is really spreading around the league," Lynn said. "People still look at Bloom as one of the top schools, but Lock Haven has a lot of talent and Kutztown (too). There is just more talent in the league than there used to be. A lot of the players are going nine months out of the year and it makes teams better."
Which, in turn, forces individuals to get better. Perhaps there's no better example of that than Ashley Lynn.
E-mail comments to bbowman@thedanvillenews.com

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