Meet Central Catholic softball pitcher Emily York and catcher Elyssa Stenger
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Their personalities are as different and as complementary as the positions they play on the softball field.
Emily York is the no-nonsense pitcher. Elyssa Stenger is the calming catcher.
Together, the seniors have been all-state pillars at their positions and four-year starters for the Central Catholic High School softball team. Counting their junior high days, the duo has been pitching and catching since seventh grade.
It is an uncountable number of times that Emily has delivered a pitch that finished with the crack of Elyssa’s mitt. They have been doing it so long that neither remembers the first time they pitched and caught together.
“I think it has worked so well because we know each other so well and trust each other so much,” says Elyssa, whose jersey number (9) has become a nickname (“Niner”) that has stuck on and off the field.
Elyssa has played in every varsity game for the Saints since her freshman year. With a .410 career average heading into May, Elyssa will threaten the school career batting record. Emily has played in all but four games, missing only because of an injury. She hit the 600-strikeout plateau in late April and is nearing the all-time record at Central Catholic in just 2½ seasons. Their freshman season was canceled because of Covid-19.
“They are a unique pair,” Central Catholic coach Jeff Schade said. “They’re not only battery mates, but they’re the best of friends. As leaders, they don’t take days off and don’t let their teammates take days off.”
Emily is signed to continue her career at Tennessee Tech in the fall, while Elyssa will continue at Illinois Wesleyan. They signed their national letters of intent together in a ceremony in November attended by the student body, family and friends.
“Signing with Emily is my most memorable moment of us together,” said Elyssa, who was also named all-state in basketball as a senior. “That was something I wanted us to be able to do together since we were little.”
“They’re both ready for the college level,” Schade said. “Even as freshmen, they were probably the two best players we put on the field, and they had high expectations of playing varsity softball.”
Schade said they understood their roles then and have continually stepped into leadership roles as they matured, including serving as team captains the last two seasons.
The leadership is evident by the sounds coming from the dugout when the Saints play.
“There’s never a time of quiet in our dugout,” Elyssa said. “One of us is always talking.”
“I like to talk; it’s natural for me to lead that way,” Emily said. “It actually helps me focus on the game more, and it’s something you can always control because it’s not hard to cheer for your teammates.”
Just as their personalities differ, so do their leadership styles.
“I’m just brutally honest,” Emily says. “Elyssa will sugar-coat it a little more.”
Elyssa offers no argument to that assessment.
“That’s fair,” Elyssa said. “I had to learn to step into a leadership role and come out of my shell because I felt like I was following in my sister’s footsteps.”
Elyssa’s sister, Kayla, was also a four-year starter at catcher for the Saints. That has given Schade the luxury of having two starting catchers over the last eight years at Central Catholic.
“If you can pitch it and catch it, you’re going to have a chance to win a lot of ballgames,” Schade said. “You almost take it for granted that it’s been eight years that I haven’t had to worry about who is catching.”
It’s a similar story for assistant coach Cory Wait, who coached Emily and Elyssa at Corpus Christi Junior High School.
“It has been awesome to have the consistency like we’ve had, especially at small schools like ours,” Wait said. “It’s been nice to have those two spots locked down; you know York is pitching and Stenger is catching.”
The dynamic duo will have their run come to an end when their postseason concludes. They will have the opportunity to play together one more time in the Bloomington Normal Girls Softball Association All-Star Game at Champion Fields on June 12.
Both players will play a summer schedule with their travel teams and then make their ways to their new college campuses.
“It will definitely be tough,” Emily said. “I’ll be 7 hours away, so more of a phone call to reconnect instead of being by each other sides.”
“It’s something we’ve talked about,” Elyssa said, “and it’s a little sad to think about. But we’ve got a bond that will always be there.”
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