By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

Jessie Farrington could have easily given up as a pitcher.

The Telstar junior is a standout shortstop, and with Jillian Kimball establishing herself as an all-conference hurler last season, it made sense for Farrington to forego the mound.

She didn’t settle, though, for simply being the Rebels’ all-star shortstop with a rifle arm. She worked regularly over the winter to improve her pitching.

“I didn’t stop even though I wasn’t pitching,” said Farrington. “I knew in college, even if I didn’t pitch much in high school, I knew somewhere down the line it would be important to have.”

As winter moved along, Farrington could see improvement. As the defending MVC champs prepare to open the regular season, she has forced a change in the Rebels’ pitching rotation.

“We’re not 100 percent sure,” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney as his club prepared for a scrimmage Friday. “I might go four innings and three innings with them. I might go every other game with them. I’m leaning toward four and three. They’re both throwing well.”

Lunney has faced this dilemma since Kimball and Farrington arrived on the scene as freshmen. Both were promising young pitchers. Kimball’s accuracy gave her the edge early on, and she established herself with a superb season as a sophomore last year, as Telstar went 14-0 before losing in the Western C semifinals.

“Even their freshmen year we had to decide,” said Lunney. “Jillian had better control, and that’s why she started. Jessie perhaps threw harder, but the control wasn’t there.”

Kimball saw most of the action last season. Farrington pitched in two games. Lunney was using both regularly during this preseason and realized he had another tough decision to make.

“After two or three games I told them, We’re going to have to talk about what we’re going to do this year,'” he said. “They’re both comfortable with either one of them throwing.

“The third time you see a pitcher in a game, you’ve seen her twice, but now they won’t see her twice, if that’s the way we go.”

The news that she might see more innings didn’t surprise Farrington.

“During the winter, I knew I was improving,” said Farrington. “I gained four miles per hour since last year. I was really excited. “

For Kimball, it is also a welcome opportunity.

“Jessie and I have been pitching all winter together, and I’ve seen her improve,” said Kimball. “I was like, I think you’ll be seeing a lot more pitching time this year.'”

The occasional move to shortstop doesn’t faze Kimball at all.

“I like it,” she said. “There’s not many teams in the MVC that have two pitchers at the same level. It will be good. I like playing shortstop, too. I played like two games at short. I’m looking forward to playing a few more games there this season.”

Both pitchers worked regularly with pitching coach Kim Lavoie during the winter. Farrington could see a dramatic improvement in her accuracy, command and speed.

“It was really cool,” she said. “I was pitching like 50 miles per hour, and I hit 54 in the gym this winter. It was really exciting.”

She comes into the season with greater confidence and a chance to make her work pay off. Kimball, meanwhile, has also improved. She says she hasn’t gained much more velocity, but has seen her accuracy improve and has honed her mental approach to pitching.

“This season they’ve both got a decent change-up, and both are working on their rise ball and a drop ball,” said Lunney.