Feb. 13, 2001

By Derek Horner

Imagine walking up to the fence of a t-ball game where the children play on teams with their mothers and fathers. A ball is hit to a dad, who is playing shortstop, and mistakenly he hurls the ball towards first base thinking he sees an adult covering the bag out of the corner of his eye.

While the ball travels through the air, he soon realizes his mistake and cringes in horror at his action, but the girl standing on first makes the catch as if she had been playing baseball her entire life.

This same girl turned triple plays regularly throughout her t-ball career as other children and adults stared at her in amazement knowing they were seeing something special.

Now it is the year 2001. Add about two feet to that little girl, years of softball experience and multiple prep, BIG EAST and NCAA honors to this left-handed wonderchild and you have Notre Dame senior softball pitcher Jennifer Sharron. An extremely intelligent and talented ballplayer, Sharron came to South Bend from Agoura Hills, Calif., after leading Thousand Oaks High School to the state semifinals her senior year. She also was a two-time all-state selection and a three-time Los Angeles Times all-star, as well as earning pitcher-of-the-year honors in 1997.

Winning games and awards have come easy for Sharron. During her senior year of high school, her club team, Gordon’s Panthers, took second at the 1997 18-and-under national championships. Sharron played on that team with her sister Jessica, a pitcher for the Irish, as well as Notre Dame second baseman Alexis Madrid. While at Notre Dame, Sharron has added even more hardware to her trophy case, while continuing to bring her leadership and competitiveness to the field serving as a team captain for the second consecutive year in 2000-01.

Sharron won her third consecutive BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year award after going 26-7 with a 0.88 earned-run average in 2000. She earned first-team all-region and second team National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American honors in 2000 for her efforts. Sharron also has been named to the all-BIG EAST rookie team as a freshman and earned first-team all-BIG EAST honors as a sophomore and a junior. Irish head coach Liz Miller expects more of the same from her senior leader.

Sharron also has displayed the ability to step up and lead her team in the NCAA tournament. She has earned NCAA all-regional tournament honors twice in her career, once as a freshman in 1998 and again last year, when she posted a 0.40 ERA and a 1-1 record in three appearances.

“Jen is physically and mentally stronger right now than she has ever been in her career,” says Miller.

“She has a tremendous sense of competitiveness and a hard work ethic. Her mental attitude is outstanding and she has a strong presence whenever she is in the game.” An invaluable tool on the mound with her numerous pitches and a career 1.26 ERA (including a 0.72 career mark in the BIG EAST Conference), Sharron defeats her batters by intimidating and outsmarting them.

Her 504 career strikeouts rank second in school history and she is poised to overtake some a number of Notre Dame softball records this season. She ranks in the top five in 12 career pitching categories, highlighted by 574.2 innings pitched (ranked third), 6.14 strikeouts per seven innings (second), 54 complete games (third) and 85 career starts (third).

Not only is Sharron one of Notre Dame’s most talented pitchers ever, she also is excellent in the batter’s box with a career .312 batting average, bringing the same competitive mentality to the plate that she has on the mound. She smacked her first career home run last season against fourth-ranked Arizona at the Kia Klassic tournament in California. “To some degree it is an advantage and a disadvantage,” Sharron says about the mental aspect of being both a hitter and a pitcher.

“You think, ‘She just threw me this pitch, what would I throw in this situation?’ Sometimes that is a disadvantage because you think too much. When I am up to bat, I try to be as aggressive as possible. I try to take the same attitude I have on the mound into the box, and do anything I can to make contact or get the job done.” Despite her personal achievements, Sharron remains humble about her accomplishments and remembers that total team effort comes first.

“To me, I am going to remember if I made it to a World Series more than if I was named an All-American,” Sharron says.

This attitude has earned her the respect and support of her teammates.

“She is a captain you can definitely go to with your problems,” said senior teammate and fellow captain Danielle Klayman.

Sharron is often described by teammates as somebody who is focused, competitive and leads by example. Off of the field, Sharron is an excellent student majoring in film, television and theater. She also is active in the Academic Honors Program and is the lone representative from the softball team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council.

After graduation in May, Sharron would like to get involved in sports, but is not sure in what capacity.

“I’m thinking of athletic administration. I would like to go to graduate school and get an MBA and go into sports marketing, but I’m not 100 percent sure. I want to leave as many options open as possible,” Sharron says. Whether she is describing her teammates, sister or parents, Sharron definitely has made softball a family experience. She credits her parents with instilling the values of hard work, competitiveness and drive to be the best into her personality – all of which are key aspects that make Sharron the player she is today. “I can remember when my dad, sister and I would pitch in to the late hours of the night. Even when we didn’t want to go, he knew we wanted this so bad. He didn’t want us to look back one day and wish he would have pushed us harder. He wanted us to know he did everything he could to get us where we wanted to be. Throwing all night, I’m going to remember that forever.”

Sharron’s sister, Jessica, decided to follow in her sister’s footsteps and is currently a sophomore pitcher at Notre Dame. Jessica realizes what Jennifer brings not only to the team, but what having a family member on the team can mean to both sisters.

“Jen has always been supportive and is my biggest fan. She would love to do anything for me and see me succeed,” said Jessica.

Jennifer Sharron feels that playing with her sister is what she will remember most about playing for the Fighting Irish.

When speaking about their loss in the national championship game while playing with Gordon’s Panthers, Jennifer said, “I remember when we were favored to win and we lost. I felt I let her down because we didn’t win it together.”

” But this is a new opportunity for both of us. To look back on these times 10 or 15 years from now will be special and unique.” When she has the chance to relax, Sharron enjoys spending time with good friends like teammate Lizzy Lemire.

“Since our freshmen year, Jen and I have been close. Even without knowing each other, we seemed to be best friends from the start. We’ve played against each other, played together, laughed and cried together and definitely matured together,” Lemire says.

Sharron is the model of everything that Notre Dame stands for on and off the field. From athletic and academic success, to supporting family and friends, Sharron exemplifies the true spirit that is Notre Dame.

“If I had it all to do over again, I would definitely come back to Notre Dame. I think meeting people from across the country, getting a taste of people from the East Coast, the Midwest, the South and West Coast is something that you don’t get to experience at other schools.

“I’ve learned to enjoy my friends. Notre Dame is a family. I think there is something very unique and special about this place.”

Sharron hopes this is the year that everybody learns how special Notre Dame is as the Irish look to take it to the next level – the Women’s College World Series. “The camaraderie our team has on and off the field has definitely aided in our success. To look around and see your friends playing behind you is very special. To hopefully this year compete for a national championship with your friends is something I will remember and take pride in for years to come. This team deserves it. We have worked so hard and there would be no greater sense of accomplishment than board that plane to Oklahoma and know we reached our goals together.”