“I miss it, but I think it was better for the team that I focus on hitting,” Whitton said.
Similar to the Babe himself, Whitton’s numbers offensively leapt through the roof once relieved of the burden of excelling in two dimensions of the game.
The additional focus on her swing, the extra energy from not having to pitch between at bats and the insights from her mound experience have all combined to give Whitton an edge every time she’s at the plate.
“That’s a great tribute to Tiffany: if you take something away that she’s capable of doing, instead of her whole game deflating, she picks up something in a different area,” Allard says. “She’s one of the most talented all-around players I’ve ever had, that’s safe to say.”
With such a performance already in the books, the pressure will be on Whitton this season to equal or better last year’s effort. And the primary source of that added stress may just be her internal monologue.
“I probably put a bit more pressure than I should on myself,” Whitton says. “Last year was kind of like a once in a lifetime thing. It’s kind of unfair to expect that much from myself, but if I could do it last year, why not again this year?”
But it’s that kind of intense pressure that puts into perspective just how special Whitton’s performance was last season.
“She’s in that upper echelon of a handful of kids that are some of the best I’ve coached,” Allard says. “What is unique about Tiffany is that though she is one of the best hitters I’ve coached, the reigning sentiment about her though is that she is the most multi-faceted athlete I’ve ever coached. I’ve never had a person that could step on the mound and pitch, be quick enough to play the outfield, have enough leadership to anchor first base and be good defensively and be able to step up and hit .400.”
Though this will be Whitton’s last season on the diamond, the effects of her stay will not soon be forgotten. There will be the new faces popping up in years to come thanks to Whitton’s play, not just at Harvard but throughout the Ivy League.
“When you have a kid in your program that has been Ivy Player of the Year and a solid reputation, [high schoolers] know that they’re going to a quality program, they know that there are quality kids there, they know that their level of competition needs to be high, they know that they’re going to a successful program,” Allard says. “It does two things—it steps up our own individual program, but it also elevates the league.”
—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.