League V aces know each other well

Every spring they've faced each other's curveballs, rises and changeups, then returned the favor.

Year after year, they've strolled into pitching circles across the Island and forced opponents to beat balls into the ground, pop pitches up to the infield or whiff on a clockwork curveball. Then they return to the dugout and watch their counterparts mirror them.

This is a tale of three aces: Hauppauge's Nicole Ehlinger, Eastport-South Manor's Catherine Havens and Kings Park's Lindsay Taylor.

They combined to go 47-11 with 621 strikeouts and a sub-1.00 ERA in 2010.

And they all pitch in the same league.

"The three of us are the powerhouse pitching of League V, and probably Suffolk County, I would think," Taylor said. "We all throw the ball hard and move it around the plate well, so it can be hard for other girls to hit us. Especially girls that don't play as often as we do."

As is often the case with supreme talents, the gifts have to be grown through hard work. Namely, travel ball. Ehlinger and Taylor also play for the Long Island Sudden Impact and Havens pitches for the Long Island Anthem.

"We've definitely helped each other out," Taylor said of pitching alongside Ehlinger. "Our views on things, how you throw a pitch, how you do this or that."

And just because all three are off to college in September doesn't mean the mutual instruction society ends. Taylor is attending Syracuse, and Ehlinger and Havens will play for C.W. Post.

But each member of the trio creates her success differently.

Ehlinger used a mix of pitches when she struck out 22 batters April 5, 2010. Most devastating among them was a curveball thrown tantalizingly slow, but with a bottom that dropped like a trap door. She pitched that game against Eastport-South Manor and Havens.

"I'm consistently 58 to 59 miles per hour," said Ehlinger, who struck out 20 more batters nine days later. "I don't want to give everything away, but my best pitch is my curve. And now my screw and my rise have been working really well."

Havens also relies on a curveball, maybe even more heavily than Ehlinger. It's one of those cliche curves where the batter knows it's coming, but can't do anything about it. Havens started out playing baseball when she was younger and initially didn't want to switch to softball.

"My dad told me, 'that's what girls do. They switch,' " said Havens, who tossed two no-hitters and a perfect game in 2010. "Then the pitching drew me in. I thought the motion was pretty cool."

Taylor, perhaps the most prolific perfect gamer of the group, sets hitters up with a legitimate fastball, then puts them away with an array of offspeed selections. Last year, she pitched three perfect games and six other no-hitters, an average of one no-no every 2.77 games.

And the best could be yet to come as all three are seniors.

"Each year, everyone gets better," Havens said. "You have to keep pushing yourself to meet their level. It is high school, but the level is so high. You can't take it lightly."