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.

“Virginia came through in some pretty clutch situations,” Williamson said.

Later that week, Fritsch again demonstrated her penchant for the heroic, as the Crimson faced off against Yale and Brown in the penultimate Ivy weekend. With the team’s Ivy title hopes on the line, she batted 6-for-13 with three home runs and drove in six runs.

Fritsch was again honored as Ivy Rookie of the Week.

She was a member of a deep and talented freshman class that certainly made its presence felt this season and will be a force for the next three seasons.

Like Fritsch, freshmen infielder/outfielder Julia Kidder, pitcher Becky Voaklander, outfielder Susie Winkeller and infielder/outfielder Lauren Brown were given the opportunity to see significant time and made the most of their chances.

“The freshmen came in and were just willing to put everything on the line,” junior first baseman Cecily Gordon said.

Hard work enabled Fritsch to make the adjustment from high school to college ball smoothly and finish the year in the top 15 in the Ivy League in batting.

“She’s very focused during hitting practice,” Williamson said.

A reinjury of a recurring shoulder problem forced her to miss the last three contests of the year.

But unlike Henry, who forever lost his ability to compete at a high level after a freak injury to his arm, Fritsch will be around for years to come, terrorizing Ivy pitchers all the while.

—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.