When Geneva Ratcliff learned that Palmer High wouldn't field a softball team this season, she opted for the next best thing.
She decided to play baseball.
Too few Palmer girls came out for softball, forcing the cancellation of the season. But Ratcliff, one of the top pitchers in the Mid-Alaska Conference last year, wanted one more shot at diamond glory in her senior season.
So she went out for baseball and made the team as an infielder.
"I don't think it'll be that different," Ratcliff said. "The ball is smaller, the field bigger, the base paths farther apart. But it's the same technique. You watch the ball and be aware."
Turns out, Ratcliff is comfortable on any diamond, whether the base paths are 60 or 90 feet long. She grew up playing baseball and didn't turn to softball until age 12.
Two older brothers, Justin and Willie, also played baseball at Palmer High. So family backyard catch sessions involved a hardball more often than a softball.
"The hardest thing to get used to is holding a ball with two fingers instead of three," she said.
That Ratcliff could jump from softball to baseball isn't shocking. She's a multi-sport star with lots of different skills -- she plays volleyball, basketball and is now juggling track and baseball.
She hasn't competed in track since her freshman year, when she split her time with softball. But she's competing in the shot put, discus, triple jump and 400 relay this season.
In addition to playing two sports simultaneously, Ratcliff finds time to maintain a 3.78 GPA.
"It's not that bad," she said of balancing two sports and schoolwork. "It's my senior year, I've got a month left, I don't have that much homework. I basically go to track after school, go home for an hour, then come back for baseball."
Last year, Palmer baseball coach Dave Combs joked with Ratcliff that she should play on his team.
"She has a good arm, she's a good athlete," Combs said. "She'll contribute."
The biggest adjustment may be hitting. A baseball is thrown much faster than a softball. But a baseball is thrown farther -- 60 feet from the mound to home plate versus just 40 feet in softball. So the reaction time needed to hit in fast-pitch softball may not be much different.
"I think it will be somewhat the same," Combs said. "The swing will be different. In softball, you use a flat, quick swing. In baseball, she'll be able to take her time and get her whole body into it. It might even be easier for her."
Ratcliff is confident.
"I don't think it will be that much different," she said. "All you have to do is keep your eye on the ball. If you can do that, you can pretty much hit any ball.
"I can't wait," she added. "Hitting's the best part."
Ratcliff understands the physics of hitting a baseball -- and she just loves physics -- a love that may turn into a career.
After graduation, Ratcliff is set to join the U.S. Navy. Her high GPA, love of engineering and physics, plus a high score on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, have landed Ratcliff a spot at the Navy's Nuclear Power School in Charleston, S.C.
Ratcliff leaves June 24 for basic training outside of Chicago. Then she's off to Charleston for two years of school. After that, Ratcliff may be working on the nuclear power plant inside a naval warship.
"I've always wanted to be an engineer, and I got into physics," she said. "I just kind of went with it."
Find Ron Wilmot online at adn.com/contact/rwilmot or call 352-6712.
By RON WILMOT
rwilmot@adn.com