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At just 15 years old, freshman pitcher Mariah Denson has transformed Mansfield Timberview's softball program

MANSFIELD — Rafael Denson was jarred awake by the sound of his daughter screaming.

“In the middle of the night we hear her screaming and crying that her back is broke again,” Denson said. “She’s crying. My wife is looking like she’s going to cry. I’m nervous and scared. She’s like … ‘I heard it break again.’”

This was while Mariah Denson, one of the Dallas area’s brightest young softball stars, was in the midst of recovering from a fractured vertebra in her back.

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“We called the doctor the next morning,” Rafael said. “It was only her back popping from being in the brace for so long.”

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Now there are more popping sounds. But those are from Mariah’s powerful pitches hitting the catcher’s mitt as one opposing hitter after another strikes out.

Denson has transformed Mansfield Timberview (16-4-1, 9-0) from a team that missed the playoffs last season into a team that is ranked 19th in the state in Class 5A and leads District 7-5A by one game over Mansfield. Denson is 13-2 with a 1.33 ERA, is averaging 11 strikeouts per seven innings, and ranks in the top 10 among area 5A pitchers in wins, ERA and strikeouts. She has shut out her last three opponents, including a perfect game against Cedar Hill.

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And the 15-year-old, who can already throw six different pitches and 65 mph, is only a freshman.

“She’s a lot stronger than most freshmen, she has good mechanics and is naturally athletic,” said Timberview coach Donya Mooney, whose team has already matched last season’s win total. “Nothing really rattles her. We’ve been in situations where bases are loaded and no outs and she strikes three kids out.”

Because of an injury that is believed to have started as a stress fracture and then gotten worse, Denson was confined to a back brace 23 hours a day for two months this summer. She took six months off from softball and didn’t begin pitching again until January — one month before the start of the high school season.

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At one point, it looked like the injury might jeopardize Denson’s career — at least as a pitcher.

“The first doctor told us to pick a different position or a different sport,” said Denson’s mother, Stephanie.

“I was pretty scared,” Denson said. “My whole body would just lock up where I couldn’t even move.”

Denson would need surgery if the back brace didn’t work. Sitting out the season was a possibility.

“It was scary more than anything,” Mooney said. “She was afraid it wasn’t going to heal right. We were willing to take the time off, and if that meant she didn’t pitch this year, then she didn’t pitch this year.”

After switching doctors, Denson was told she didn’t need to switch sports, and she avoided surgery. She never considered changing positions, and she wasn’t timid when she was cleared to resume playing.

“The day I was released, I went right at it,” Denson said. “They told me to keep it easy, and I did not do that.

“I feel like I’m 100 percent back. I’m still a little out of shape … but my speed is pretty much still there.”

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Select softball, which provides the opportunity to play year-round and against elite competition, helps prepare young players for what they will face in high school. Denson recognized that and was willing to make long drives to play for a top select team from Houston for two years before joining the local Texas Glory organization this summer.

“They get to face hitters from all over the country who really have great experience and force them to hone their craft,” Texas Glory manager Kevin Shelton said. “There are a lot of pitchers locally here who can get away with throwing the ball over the plate, and [in select softball] you just can’t get away with that when you face really good hitters. Kids have an opportunity to learn that at a young age.”

Denson also learned at a young age what it was like to pitch under pressure — in this case, in front of college coaches. She started getting recruited the summer after she finished seventh grade. She committed to Oklahoma State as an eighth-grader, choosing the school where her father played football.

“It just made me mature more,” Denson said.

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This season, Denson has been pitching well beyond her years.

Early risers

Mary Kate Brennan, Lake Highlands: Brennan is 15-3 with a 2.64 ERA for a Lake Highlands team that is tied with Richardson Pearce for first place in District 9-5A. She leads area 5A players with a .646 batting average and is tied for third in wins. She took over pitching duties from her sister Erin, who was the 9-5A co-MVP as a senior last year.

Maribeth Gorsuch, Lewisville: She is 15-2 with a 1.17 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 114 innings. She ranks third among area 5A players in ERA and strikeouts, is tied for third in wins and is hitting .443. Gorsuch has wins over state-ranked Ennis, McKinney Boyd, Kennedale and Flower Mound.

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After missing the playoffs last season, Lewisville entered Thursday tied with Flower Mound and nationally ranked Flower Mound Marcus for first place in District 5-5A. Gorsuch throws in the mid-60s and has already been getting recruited for about a year.

“She is definitely one of the top pitchers that I’ve had an opportunity to see coming in as a freshman,” said varsity assistant JonAnn Roper, who coaches Lewisville’s pitchers. “She understands situations. She knows what she needs to throw, what we should be throwing at a certain situation in the game. And she remembers the batters, what they do, what their tendencies are. That’s not something that every kid has.”

Brittney Larkin, Keller: She hasn't been fazed by replacing district MVP Bailee Kaderka, a Louisiana Tech signee. Larkin is 10-1 with a 2.34 ERA for the state's 22nd-ranked 5A team.

Karlie Milburn, Mansfield Legacy: She is 7-2 with a 2.21 ERA for the state's ninth-ranked 4A team. She has helped replace Baylor pledge Kendall Potts, who is sidelined by a wrist injury.