May 23rd 2007 - Seattle Times
Snohomish County News stars of the week

Monroe High fastpitch softball team

The Bearcats, coached by Curt Eskeback, won the Northwest 4A District championship to claim the top seed to state. Monroe (22-1) beat both Shorewood High and Stanwood High 1-0 in the opening rounds Thursday, then captured the title with a 2-0 victory over Lake Stevens High on Saturday. Junior right-hander Jordan Birch pitched all three games, striking out 31 and allowing just four hits in 21 innings.

Jordan Birch

Monroe pitcher is The Herald's softball Player of the Year
By Mike Cane - Herald Writer

Without needing to say a word, Jordan Birch made a perfect attention-grabbing statement March 20. On that memorable day, the Monroe High School junior pitched a perfect game, striking out 16 batters, and ripped a home run in a decisive 4-0 fastpitch softball triumph over the Everett Seagulls. The message was clear.

"The first thing on my mind," Everett coach Kyle Peacocke said, "was she's the best pitcher in the league, hands down. She made a statement in that game and kind of followed up on that throughout the year." "I think it was kind of a statement being made," echoed Monroe coach Curt Eskeback. "(Birch) pitched a perfect game ... against a rival Everett team that's well-coached and has good athletes." The victory was a watershed moment in what became a massively successful season for Birch. For her many achievements - which include throwing two perfect games, compiling a 23-2 win-loss record and tallying 271 strikeouts - Birch is The Herald's 2007 All-Area Softball Player of the Year. One key to Birch's success, as with most top-notch pitchers, was her laser-precise control. She allowed just 20 walks in 1732/3 innings, an average of less than one walk per seven-inning game.

Birch's breakout performance against Everett typified her uncommonly accurate attack. "That game was really, really fun," Birch said, "and all my pitches were working perfectly. I felt like I had great control." Allowing just nine earned runs all year, Birch pitched Monroe to Wesco North and Class 4A Northwest District titles, as well as a trip to the state tourney. She made valuable offensive contributions, too, hitting .318 with two doubles, three triples and two homers. In addition, she compiled a .441 on-base percentage, scored 21 runs, drove in 18 runs and was 12-for-12 on stolen-base attempts. Birch, a lanky 5-foot-9 competitor, dreams of playing for an NCAA Division-I program. She seems to have the work ethic necessary to achieve her goal and said she already has received interest from several East Coast coaches. "She had an outstanding year and worked really hard to get where she is right now," Eskeback said, "and she's still working hard to get better." Birch, a right-handed pitcher who bats left-handed, excelled in her first season at Monroe's No. 1 pitcher. Last season, she performed well, but then-senior Ashly Forsberg tossed the majority of the innings. Forsberg now plays for Utah Valley State University. Birch learned a lot about mental toughness, intensity and practice habits from Forsberg, Eskeback said: "She saw what it takes to get to that next level."

2007 Star Times Softball

Jordan Birch
Monroe, P, Jr.
Junior led Bearcats to a 22-1 record and the Northwest 4A District championship. She had 245 strikeouts in 155-2/3 innings, an earned-run average of 0.36 and held opponents to a .103 batting average. Pitched three no-hitters, including a 16-strikeout perfect game, and led Bearcats back to state tournament. Already receiving national recruiting interest.

Herald Athletes of the Week

May 22nd 2007
Jordan Birch of Monroe pitched a two-hit shuout in the Bearcats' 2-0 win over Lake Stevens in the 4A District 1 title game. She also pitched a one-hit shutout in a 1-0 semifinal win over Stanwood and a one-hit shutout in a 1-0 quarterfinal win over Shorewood.

May 1st 2007
Jordan Birch of Monroe pitched a two-hit shutout and batted 2-for-2 with a home run, three runs scored and two stolen bases in a 10-0 win over Meadowdale

March 27th 2007
Jordan Birch of Monroe pitched a perfect game with 16 strikeouts and hit a two-run home run in a 4-0 win over Everett.

Seattle Times Prep Athletes of the Week

March 20th 2007
Birch, a junior pitcher, tossed three shutouts as the Bearcats started the season strong. She struck out 14 in a one-hitter against Kamiak (10-0 win), fanned nine in a two-hitter against Edmonds-Woodway (13-0) and had 13 strikeouts in a three-hitter against Shorewood (11-0). Birch also had four hits, three runs and three runs batted in.

March 28th 2007
Birch, a junior right-hander, pitched a perfect game in a 4-0 win over Everett High School on March 20. She struck out 16, including the first nine batters she faced, and also hit a two-run home run. Through the first five games of the season, Birch is 5-0 with a 0.00 earned-run average, 66 strikeouts, two walks, nine hits allowed and no runs scored in 32 innings.



When no-quit attitude pays off
By Zach Landres-Schnur - Special to The Seattle Times

The Birches' garage door has seen better days.
It was just a few years ago that Monroe Bearcats ace Jordan Birch was learning how to pitch in her driveway. The velocity was instantly there. The accuracy and location? Not so much. "She put a ton of dents in our garage door," said Jordan's father, Mike, who is also an assistant coach. "The misses slowly started coming down and that's when she started to see some success and really fell in love with it." With just a few years of pitching experience, Birch has used an admirable work ethic and no-quit attitude to prove she's one of the best pitchers in the area. And she's having fun doing it. "There's a huge learning curve with pitching," said Mike Birch. "It's a lot of repetition. I heard one coach say you have to throw about 3,000 pitches before you really get consistent."

Jordan Birch, who also plays volleyball and plays on a club softball team in the summer, says she practices for hours nearly every day and is always working to get better. "She's a perfectionist," said Monroe 11th-year coach Curt Eskeback. "She works really hard. She's a real class act." All the hard work has paid off. Throwing a fastball, riseball, curveball, screwball, an "awesome" changeup, according to Eskeback, and working on a drop, the right-hander has started and won every game for the 13-0 Bearcats, who lead the WesCo North division. Her earned-run average is 0.67, and she has 148 strikeouts in 84.0 innings. She has thrown two perfect games, a no-hitter and nine shutouts. Yeah, you read that right. Birch, a 16-year-old junior already getting looks from Division I schools, wasn't always the team's ace.

Ashly Forsberg, now a freshman at Utah Valley State College in Orem, was Monroe's No. 1 pitcher last season, with Birch playing mainly second base and pitching on occasion as a sophomore. Birch was 8-1 last season but was overshadowed by Forsberg. "Last year I was working hard to be just as good as Ash was or even better," said Birch. "I'm still pushing myself real hard this year to be the best that I can be. I also need to prove myself because I know I can go out there and do what I need to do." Added Everett coach Kyle Peacocke: "I think she has a lot to prove. Ashly was a senior and they pitched her the majority of the time. Jordan was kind of biding her time. I think she feels she has something to prove." Birch certainly proved herself when Monroe played at Everett about a month ago. Opposite the Seagulls star pitcher Cory Mattson, Birch threw a perfect game with 16 strikeouts. She also homered. "Everything was working real good," she said. "It was really fun." Pitching that day wasn't the only thing that was putting a smile on her and her teammates' faces. Between innings, music played over the loudspeakers and Birch displayed her best dance moves. She got the entire team cracking up. "But right when the next inning started, she just got focused," said Bearcats senior shortstop Kayla Wangner. "That's what's so great about her. She knows when to be serious and knows when to have fun. Knows when it's time to play ball."

But Birch probably wouldn't be where she is without a no-quit attitude. Her favorite quote, listed in her player profile: "The only way to fail is to quit." That sums up the pitcher pretty well. "You can only fail if you just give up," she said. "You're done in your mind. You're done trying for it. But if you feel you've had a bad game, you haven't failed. There's still potential there and there are still things you need to work on." If Birch hadn't kept working and working, the perfect games, great record and all the strikeouts might have never happened.