Perhaps the last rookie to have such a huge impact on the diamond is Henry Rowengartner, the 12-year-old right-hander who fire-balled his way into a Cubs uniform and American hearts in the 1993 classic Rookie of the Year.

While Henry may have been a fictional character, Harvard freshman softballer Virginia Fritsch was all too real to opponents this year.

The third baseman from Los Gatos, Calif. was one of the Crimson’s most lethal offensive weapons, batting .306 and leading the squad with five home runs and 26 RBI while slugging a meaty .519.

Fritsch was so dangerous, in fact, that she was named first-team All-Ivy at third base, the league’s lone first-year to receive the accolade.

Prior to the season’s start, Harvard was suffering from a dearth of personnel at the hot corner, due to both graduation and injury.

“We didn’t really have a third baseman coming into the year,” co-captain second baseman Sara Williamson said. “It was really great to have a young player fill that hole and work hard doing it.”

From the get-go, Fritsch made it clear that she would be a more than adequate replacement.

Her offensive proficiency was apparent from day one, as she went 3-for-6 hitting out of the three-hole in her first pair of collegiate softball games at the Brecthelsbauer Classic in Carbondale, Ill.

“It’s always exciting when we have a freshman who comes in and contributes right away,” Williamson said.

After hitting in the three- and five- spot for the first month of the season, Fritsch was put into the cleanup position on April 3 against George Mason. In that game, she went 2-for-3 with four RBI, and also batted 2-for-3 in the two following contests.

The next day, in the championship of the George Mason Invitational against Delaware State, Fritsch blasted a three-run homer.

She batted fourth the rest of the year.

For her efforts that week, Fritsch was awarded Ivy Rookie of the Week honors.

In the Crimson’s two-game sweep of perennial Ivy power Princeton on April 10, she drove in three of Harvard’s five runs and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 20th inning in the now-classic duel between the two squads.

More thrills came for Fritsch, as she delivered a game-winning two-run shot against Holy Cross on April 20.