Monessen grad Dana Vatakis leads way as ace of Robert Morris softball pitching staff

Robert Morris fourth-year softball coach Jexx Varner doesn’t believe in the time-honored tradition of having one starting pitcher carry the load for an entire season. He prefers to use an MLB-style staff of multiple pitchers.

To wit: The Colonials (16-6 in the Horizon League, 27-16 overall) have five pitchers who have thrown at least 35 innings this season, and three of those hurlers have made at least 11 starts.

And, as with a major-league staff, there is an ace. Varner’s is senior Dana Vatakis.

Entering the week, Vatakis, a Monessen grad, was 7-6 with a 4.15 ERA (5-3, 2.65 in the Horizon League) and 86 strikeouts in a team-high 89 innings. Her average of nearly one strikeout per inning is tops in her time with the Colonials.

“She’s still our ace,” Varner said. “That’s not to say I don’t believe in the rest of our pitching staff. … Our four other pitchers are great and can handle their loads, and it just will help when Dana, later on in the year, hasn’t thrown as much and she’s not gassed.

“That’s what’s great about our staff, and that’s what’s great about Dana is she has embraced this role within the staff.”

Vatakis solidified her position by the development of her pitch repertoire and a more aggressive mindset. Content to rely on two pitches her first couple of seasons, she refined her backdoor curveball and her drop ball.

They were pitches she always had, she said, but she rarely threw them in game situations.

In the past, she was content to pitch to contact and get the majority of her outs via ground balls. Now, because she has a more varied arsenal, she attacks hitters more frequently.

“Now I have more I can trust in all of my different pitches,” she said. “Being able to mix more and use different pitches has helped me keep people off balance. That leads to more strikeouts.”

Varner added that Vatakis also has become more effective at working higher in the strike zone. Having hitters constantly changing eye levels, Varner said, gives a pitcher an advantage. In Vatakis’ case, instead of sitting on her low, ground ball-inducing offerings, hitters must respect her willingness to go upstairs.

The combination of trusting more pitches and the willingness to change locations have given Vatakis more confidence in the circle.

“I think she embraces the challenge of, I want somebody to try to put the ball in play against me,” Varner said. “She’s daring them to, and she’s making some quality pitches. And when she’s got this aggressive mentality, it leads to strikeouts.”

Wiser and more polished, Vatakis has emerged as a team leader. She’s not one to “rah-rah” and pump up her teammates with fire-and-brimstone exhortations. Her M.O. is staying on an even keel.

“I would say I’m more of a calming leader than anything else,” Vatakis said.

Varner calls it “swagger.”

Far from being cocky, Vatakis exudes a self-assuredness that permeates the dugout.

“You know watching her in the circle and watching her do her work in the bullpen and so on that, we’ve got this,” he said. “We’ve got this game. We can win this game. That belief and trust that she has radiates to everybody else on the team.”

That belief includes winning the Horizon League Tournament and advancing to the NCAAs.

The Colonials had a solid season in their league debut in 2021, finishing fourth in the HL. Now they are ready to take the next step.

“I have a lot of confidence in our team, and I think we can win it,” Vatakis said. “We’ve just gotten better and gotten more comfortable in the Horizon League and kind of made our mark. Now I definitely think we’re capable of winning it all.”