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For three seasons, Oak Forest coach Nick Fuentes has been calling junior utility player Mia Delisi by the nickname “Hambone.”
The first part is easily explained.
“OK, so my freshman year I told coach (Nick) Fuentes that I was named after Mia Hamm, the soccer player,” Delisi said.
Makes sense. The rest of the name?
“I really don’t know,” Delisi said, laughing.
Fuentes couldn’t help.
“It just came to me and I started calling her that,” Fuentes said. “I don’t know why. I’ll have to go back to the lab and figure it out.”
“Hambone” was called out often Thursday — with glee — during Oak Forest’s 6-3 South Suburban Conference crossover victory over host Richards in Oak Lawn.
Delisi reached base all four times and scored three runs for the Bengals (6-1, 3-0). Hailey Wesner doubled and hit a game-deciding, three-run homer while earning the pitching win. Morgan Reczkiewicz contributed two hits.
Kyra Olejniczak hit a home run for Richards (4-1, 1-1). Olivia Coglianese, Natalie Hajer and Violet McIntyre each had two hits.
Batting out of the second spot in the order, Delisi played her typical role as a rally starter.
Leading off in the fourth inning, her speed forced a rushed and wide throw to first base on her infield grounder. She later scored on a base hit by Erika McCarthy.
In the sixth, she beat out a leadoff grounder to second, and scored on Wesner’s double.
In the seventh, she was one of two runners on base when Wesner launched a three-run rocket to break a 3-3 tie.
Wesner had no problem describing the “Delisi Effect.”
“Mia, she’s always involved,” Wesner said. “Every time she’s up to bat I know she’s going to cause something to happen. She’ll make the ball go where everyone’s going crazy.
“She can run all over the bases. She can do everything. And on defense, she can play anywhere, too. She’s just always out there.”
Delisi, who started at second base, made her mark defensively in the sixth with a catch and snap tag to nail a would-be Bulldogs base stealer.
Quick with the glove. Quick with her feet.
“Honestly, everyone likes to tell me that I’m slow,” Delisi said. “I just have to be smart. You don’t have to be fast to be a smart base runner to be safe all the time.
“I just have to be smart at all times and think about what I’m doing before I do it.”
This season, it’s all fun, all the time. It wasn’t always that way.
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“Last season, mentally I wasn’t there,” Delisi said. “It’s not that I was unhappy playing softball, I just mentally was not OK with myself — and life. It brought me down.
“But this year, I came back to myself and I remembered to be myself and be me again. This season, both mentally and physically, I’m so much more happy.”
The Bengals are definitely benefiting.
After Thursday’s win, Delisi is batting .682 with 12 runs, three stolen bases, six doubles, one home run and seven RBIs.
For most of last season, Delisi hit further down in the order. Fuentes has had her at the top from the start.
“She has been a sparkplug for us,” Fuentes said. “She’s just a joy to be around. When things are going south, she makes sure that the energy is still up. She’s a cheerleader in the dugout, keeping everyone going.
“On the field, she’s all over the place. She’s excellent on the base paths. A contact hitter … what she’s done for this team in that two spot is remarkable. It’s going to be so much fun watching her play this season.”
