Baylor’s Syd Berzon is one of the best softall prospects in the country

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Baylor pitcher Syd Berzon is being touted as one of the best softball prospects in the entire country — and she already has a no-hitter on her 20-21 resume.

News 12’s Angela Moryan tells us why she’s one of the best pitchers in Baylor history.

Kelli Smith: “Syd can really just take over and absolutely dominate.”

Only two other players touched the ball in Syd Berzon’s 16-strike out no-hitter against GPS this month — the catcher and the centerfielder — once.

Smith: “She doesn’t give us much chance to play a lot of defense behind her. The fact that she can just go out there and dominate, and sit batters down 1-2-3 pitches 1-2-3-4 pitches, that makes her one of the best pitchers in the country.”

The secret is her rise ball.

Berzon: “When I started throwing it way back, I knew it was going to be a strong pitch for me. I have just really worked on it, been really tedious with it, worked on my spin, and it’s slowly just come together to be what it is now. The success it gives me brings me a lot of confidence and joy in the circle so I just keep working with it.”

Smith: “In all of our years of coaching – Tom and I coaching together – here at Baylor for 20 years, we haven’t had a rise ball pitcher. We’ve had some great pitchers in our program, but it’s really hard to throw a rise ball.”

Angie: “Where does she rank in all the pitchers you’ve coached?”

Smith: “She’s very,very dominant. I mean, we’ve had some great pitchers at the Baylor School obviously, but Syd’s special. She’s able to absolutely dominate a game.”

She dominates from the batters box, as well — hitting three home runs in the first five games of her sophomore season.

Smith: “She has fun with me at practice. I throw BP, and one of the girl that’s not hitting at the time just stands on the other side of the fence.”

Berzon: “It’s more like a home run derby when we hit it during practice.”

Berzon and all her top tier talent are already off the market. The Baylor star is committed to LSU, and embarassing SEC hitters with her rise ball.

Berzon: “I’m hoping with the next two years of development, I’ll get it even better from where it is now, and hopefully it will give them a little bit of a struggle. That’s the goal.”