Erin Hedrick has spent most of her life throwing off a mound, trying to throw the perfect riseball and throwing a drop ball that makes batters look absolutely silly.

Now she makes sure of one of other thing &045; stretch properly before practice.

She can admit now that was the reason she spent a good bit of the summer with the Ferriday Gators limping and using precaution out on the diamond. It was one day prior to practice she didn’t loosen up and shortly afterward crumpled up in pain coming from her right leg thanks to a pulled quadricep muscle.

Now the senior hurler is getting over that and priming for a senior season with the Lady Hounds as fast-pitch softball action begins next week in the Miss-Lou.

&uot;She’s over that now,&uot; said Rut Horne, the Gators coach who takes over at Huntington this fall. &uot;It knocked her out about a month. She’s got to where she can run again. She was stretching, staying off it and letting it heal. She’s 100 percent now.&uot;

Hedrick’s role on that Gators team was much different than with the Lady Hounds as she was one of four good arms Horne had to choose from. Now in school ball with the Class A Lady Hounds, Hedrick is the main threat on the mound and could be one of the better pitchers in Class A by the time the season is over.

That’s a possible goal now that the leg is feeling better.

&uot;It’s fine now,&uot; Hedrick said. &uot;He didn’t let me do anything. He let me hit, but I had to jog to first base. I didn’t throw as much as I normally throw. I didn’t have serious pain, but it was pain that wasn’t supposed to be there.&uot;

It kept things off a little bit since it was the leg Hedrick used to drive with in her delivery. But now that’s behind her, and the hard-throwing right-hander will be the main threat for the Lady Hounds this fall as one of two seniors on a roster filled with sophomores, freshmen and junior high players.

Hedrick has been a standout on the mound for the Lady Hounds the past three seasons, including her freshman season in 2001 when the team won a state championship and a year later when it claimed a South State championship.

Using mainly two fastballs &045; one breaks in, the other out &045; and a dropball, Hedrick finished last season with 80 strikeouts and just 11 walks in 93 innings pitched. But there is still plenty of room to work.

There’s the matter of getting the riseball down, a pitch that has nagged her for quite some time. And Horne is also trying to implement a changeup.

&uot;My riseball has given me problems all summer,&uot; Hedrick said. &uot;That’s always been my problem pitch. I’ve never thrown it perfect. It seems like when I was younger and I played with a smaller ball I could throw it. Maybe I’m trying too hard.&uot;

The biggest hangup last year was the lack of run support for Hedrick and anyone else who took the mound for the Lady Hounds. The lineup was mostly young with the losses of Lauren Wagoner, Emily Hazlip and Tiffany Ferguson, and the team looked up at more 1-0 and 2-1 ball games than it can stand.

Despite an ERA of 0.87, Hedrick had just a 7-8 record to show. The Lady Hounds lost to Franklin Academy seven times last season by scores of the 1-0 and 2-1 variety.

&uot;That happens,&uot; Hedrick said. &uot;I think we’ll be (better). This is only our third day. The game next week will be really interesting. We have a long way to come, but I think we’ll be there before the season is over. Hopefully this year we’ll play better. I want to help them get better. I want them to be excited about this upcoming season.&uot;

Things may be better, particularly since the arrival of slugger Krystal Arnold from Natchez High. Numbers are higher than in recent seasons with 15 out for softball, including Monterey transfer Brandy Butts.

&uot;I don’t know if our record will be any better, but we’ll be a better team,&uot; Horne said. &uot;I’ve got seven out of the 15 who have played fast-pitch before, and the other eight have played slow-pitch. They’ve got to make the adjustment.&uot;

Hedrick said she entertained the notion of pitching on the college level when she was younger, but now her sights are more set on a college education and getting into medical school. She is took one college course this summer at the Northwestern State satellite campus in Jonesville and will take some others before graduating from high school.

&uot;I don’t want it to end, but I want our team to do the best we can do,&uot; Hedrick said. &uot;I want them to get better. They’re a young team. They can win a state championship. All of them have three years left at least. The only thing I can reach for is an Overall state championship, but that’s far away. Maybe they’ll get there.&uot;