Sun Devil pitchers have terrorized opponents all year long, but it is the arm of a former Hall of Fame pitcher that wreaks havoc on the Sun Devil’s lineup during practice.
Pitching coach Chuck D’Arcy, hired in 2011, brings a different skill, along with a different mindset to the No. 2 ASU softball team.
A pitcher on the 1981 USA men’s national team, which won gold at the World Games, D’Arcy has taken his assassin mentality and instilled it into one of the most feared rosters in the nation.
Senior outfielder Annie Lockwood said D’Arcy’s coaching instills a certain mentality in the team to go after the opponent full throttle.
“There will be days where it will be a little easier, where it’s ‘I’m going to let you feel good about yourself today’,” Lockwood said. “But then there are the days where he goes out there and he is the assassin that he always talks about. He pitches to our weaknesses, what he sees that that we need to work on.”
In the previous two seasons ASU batted .322 and .324. D’Arcy helped increase this to .340 last year and .346 so far in 2012. Lockwood said it’s the confidence the hitters get by facing him that helps the most.
“It’s a challenge,” Lockwood said. “If we can hit off him, I believe that we can hit off anybody in the Pac-12 or anybody in the country really. He is probably the best pitcher we are ever going to face.”
Of course D’Arcy’s prominent role is as pitching coach, an area in which has excelled. The pitching staff posted an ERA over 3.00 in the previous two years under Robert Wagner. A leap in production has led to ASU being one of the most feared teams on the mound with a 1.86 ERA in 2011 and 2.09 ERA this season, though sophomore pitcher Dallas Escobedo has had a lot to do with this.
Incoming freshman Alexis Cooper has been dominant in her high school league with a 2.14 ERA with 163 strikeouts in 147 innings pitched.
She will combine with the talents of Escobedo and sophomore Mackenzie Popescue to make another run at being one of the best pitching staffs in the country.
That accomplishment will rest almost completely on the shoulders of D’Arcy.
“I help out just enough so that they remember who I am,” ASU coach Clint Myers said. “He does all the instruction and I do a little bit of the yelling and a little bit on the mental side. He does a tremendous job.”
D’Arcy’s aptitude for the game certainly has produced most of his success, driving confidence into the psyche of the team’s young arms.
“Having the pitchers trust him with what he is trying to do is a big thing,” Myers said.
ASU has now thrust itself into the national spotlight once again, earning a regional and super regional to start its postseason run.
“Playing here in front of our fans is a tremendous boost, because when we go on the road, we don’t see that type of fan support for the opposing teams,” D’Arcy said.
The home crowd has been such an advantage this year that the Sun Devils have yet to lose in conference despite having to comeback late against Stanford and UA.
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
