Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese baseball player who is a right-handed throwing starting pitcher and left-handed batting designated hitter for the Los Angeles Angels baseball team. His successful first year has made him a star headliner in the 2018 Major League Baseball season. Ohtani wins games with his arm (4-1, 3.10 ERA) and his bat (.289 AVG, six HR, 20 RBI). He was born with prodigious talent and has showed a wealth of tenacity in the big leagues.
Maria Hanchuk is a Ukrainian softball player who is a left-handed starting pitcher and lefty swinging hitter for the South Windsor Bobcats softball team. Her successful third year has made her a star headliner in the 2018 Central Connecticut Conference softball season. She wins games with her arm (17-5, 11 shutouts, 248 strikeouts in 156 innings) and her bat (.410 AVG, 32 hits, six doubles). She inherited skills from her baseball-playing father, was inspired by her sister Julia and has demonstrated true grit determination on the softball field.
The example was set by older sisters Julia and Anna, with young Maria following along and mirroring their actions and interests. When father Mark practiced with Julia, Maria came along and found herself playing first base. She went to her sister’s travel games, practiced with her and began her softball career at age 8, playing in a youth league as a pitcher.
“I started pitching right from the beginning,” Hanchuk said. “I like to be in control of the game. I knew I had the dedication to be a pitcher because it’s a lot of work, and I knew I had the potential to succeed at that position.”
At age 12 Hanchuk began taking lessons from a local pitching instructor, desiring to upgrade her mound skills to a higher level. The results were recognized immediately with improved physical and mental development.
When she was 9, Hanchuk joined the CT Mirage softball team, the first of four local travel teams she played for in a search for more challenging competition. The travel circuit allowed her to continue to develop physically and mentally.
She made the South Windsor High varsity team as a freshman, but was very limited in game action due to the presence of senior ace Peyton Silverman. She did hit .452 (third-best on the team) and was second in hits, RBI’s and runs scored for her 15-7 Bobcats. The fundamentally sound, very well prepared, travel team-experienced Hanchuk would shine in her sophomore year.
She posted a 15-4 record, 0.95 ERA, completing all 19 starts with 10 shutouts. In 133 innings she gave up a mere 24 runs (18 earned), struck out 243 batters, hit .288 with 19 hits, 13 RBI’s and 17 runs scored. Her team went 17-4 and made the Class LL tournament.
Her 2018 statistics above prove Hanchuk continues to master the art of pitching, learning which pitch will fool a batter versus simply throwing her best pitch. Let’s not forget she’s no slouch in the batter’s box, with her timely hits making a difference in her team’s wins. She again led her team to the Class LL tournament, losing a 1-0 heartbreaker to No.1-seeded Southington in the quarterfinals. Hanchuk’s continued superior performance earned her All-State first team honors for the second consecutive year.
Hanchuk has received interest from several Division II and III programs, especially after strong efforts at summer prospect camps. She projects as a pitcher, but also gets raves for her play at first base with above-average speed, strong base-running skills and power at the plate. The projections say Hanchuk will make an impact and continue to be a successful softball dual threat at the next level. Her top three college choices include Endicott College in Beverly Mass., St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., and Bentley University in Waltham, Mass.
Hanchuk is a parishioner of St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church in Hartford, Conn., attended St. Michael’s Ukrainian School and is a member of the local Ukrainian American Youth Association branch. Her favorite player is Jackie Trayna, a Team U.S.A./University of Alabama softball star. She is a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan. Her favorite class is English and a potential career choice may be in marketing/sales.
In her early travel team days, Hanchuk adopted the following motivational phrase, which may explain her softball success: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard!”