When life throws Bakersfield College softball pitcher Kory Marko a fastball, she appropriates her father’s dictum: “Practice harder.”
Consistent hard practice, according to BC softball coach Sandi Taylor, has made Marko one of the team’s best pitchers and a valuable team asset.
“Kory on the mound is our strength,” Taylor said.
Marko says she stands firmly in place to field any and all of life’s curveballs; she adheres to her supportive father’s advice to persevere, and she is also very devoted to her daughter Kayli, who is almost 2 years old. Marko says her loving father practices on the BC baseball field with her before softball practice as well as on the weekends.
“He makes me work hard,” Marko said. “He wants me to do my best.”
Marko’s signature pitches are her curve and “rise” balls. According to Marko, the rise pitch “goes below the belt, and it rises to the head.”
Marko admits that her life is fairly stressful with the bases loaded with home life, school pressures and team life. According to Marko, she had her daughter before enrolling at BC, and, of course, the demands of motherhood are great and the pressure of academic and team life are equally great. Nevertheless, as her father often tells her, she says, hard work and perseverance “does it all.” Marko’s father was also an athlete and played as a forward on his high school basketball team. According to Marko, her daughter Kayli appears to be developing athletic abilities; Marko says her daughter “runs really fast.”
The 19-year-old BC sophomore with an undeclared major played softball for three years at her alma mater, Garces High School, and won three Central Coast Section championships from her freshman to junior years. She says she has been a pitcher since the fourth grade.
Marko says that softball is the perfect sport for her. Marko concedes that she was not tall enough to play basketball, nor is she particularly strong. With softball, the athlete does not have to have a particular body type, she said.
As for her team, Marko says that the team is “hitting and fielding better this year than it did last year.” According to Marko, so far there have been “no bad games” this year with egregious errors. However, more importantly, Marko says that the team always “comes together as a team.” Marko believes that all of her team members should always “show up mentally and not just physically.” In other words, the team members should not allow themselves to be distracted and to always focus on the game, she feels.
According to Coach Taylor, the team did not possess a lot of experience at the beginning of the season. However, the team members, according to Taylor, are “quick learners.” According to Taylor, the team’s slugging abilities are good.
The team beat Cuesta 8-2 in San Luis Obispo Feb. 27 and also walloped L.A. Pierce 11-0 at BC March 1. March 2, the team destroyed Ventura at BC with a score of 11-1. The team’s conference record is 2-1, and the team’s overall record is 9-5.