H-S Athlete of the Week: Ava Clark, Brownsville
Name: Ava Clark
School: Brownsville
Class: Junior
Sport: Softball
Clark’s week: Clark has had an array of memorable performances this softball season with the latest coming last Thursday when she recorded 10 strikeouts, including the 500th of her career, in a 6-3 win at California. Also this season, Clark, a 5-foot-10 junior righthander, retired the first 16 batters in a 9-1 victory over Ringgold on March 19, struck out a career-high 19 batters in a 2-0 win over 2024 Wisconsin state playoff team Johnson Creek at the Ripken Experience in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee on March 25, and passed Stacey Knox’s then-school record of 376 strikeouts with 11 in a 1-0 loss at McGuffey on April 2. Clark stood at 503 career strikeouts as of Wednesday.
Into the postseason: The 17-year-old daughter of Terry and Christina Clark also helped the Lady Falcons clinch a WPIAL playoff spot for the first time in over a decade. Brownsville currently is 9-5 overall and 6-3 and locked into third place in Section 4-2A. The WPIAL pairings meeting will take place Thursday. “It definitely feels like a big accomplishment for us,” Clark said. “We’ve been working towards this for a few years now and it’s so great to finally get there. I’m glad for my coach (Jane Bock), too, we really get along well together. I think our team deserved it with all the hard work everybody on his team has put in this year so I’m happy we kind of got rewarded for that.” Clark doesn’t think she’ll feel any playoff jitters. “I feel like I’m very calm and collected on the mound,” she said. “I don’t really get nervous that much.”
Memorable moments: Even Clark is amazed at her and list of accomplishments this season. “It kind of shocks me when I see all the things me and also my team have done this season,” Clark said. “But I’ve been putting a lot of work in, getting into the gym everyday, and I worked really hard to get where I am now. I think breaking the school record was probably the highlight because that was one of my goals this year and of course making the playoffs also. Now I just want to keep adding on and adding on to it. My goal is to get to 700 some time next year.” Clark focuses on keeping more than just her arm in shape. “I’m always working on improving my pitching but also I want to keep myself fit,” she said. “Basically when we have practice, afterwards I’ll go to the gym and lift and stuff. Game days I might go for a run afterwards. I always try to keep moving. Anything to keep in shape.”
West Liberty-bound: Clark has already committed to play softball at NCAA Division-II West Liberty University which is a little over an hour away from Brownsville Area Senior High School. “I picked them, first, because I really liked the coach (Sara Pelegreen),” Clark said. “We just had a great bond when I got there. She showed me around and we had a really good practice with the whole team. It also just felt like a good environment for me. It felt like home basically. I didn’t want to go that far from home because I’m really close to my family and I wanted them to be able to see me play.”
Pitching arsenal: Clark throws a fastball, curveball, screwball, riseball, drop and even a knuckleball occasionally. “The curveball is probably the toughest for me because your spin has to be right for it to work,” Clark said. “I’m working to get my drop better, too.” Clark’s main pitching mentor is Megan Uhler. “I’ve been working with her since I was about 9 or 10,” Clark said. “She was my first trainer and taught me all my pitches, basically.”
Way back when: “My mom started me out pitching on the bucket when I was like maybe 8 years old,” Clark said. “She’s the one who introduced me to softball and pitching. She was a pitcher herself in high school so she showed me the basics on how to throw. She played at Bentworth. My dad helps me out a lot with the training part of it. My mom and dad have been there for me through it all, supported me and sacrificed a lot for me and just done everything for me.”
Soaring Lady Falcons: Clark is one of several outstanding female athletes to come out of Brownsville in recent years, including soccer player Tessa Dellarose who helped lead North Carolina to a national championship this past season, distance runners Gionna and Jolena Quarzo at North Carolina State, sisters Maris, Alie and Emma Seto, as well as current teammate Skyler Gates who is a Virginia volleyball recruit. “I feel Brownsville gets a bad rap sometimes but there are a lot of athletes who work hard here and go on to do great things and I think maybe not enough people give us credit for that,” Clark said.
Hoop stars: Clark and Gates were the top players on Brownsville’s girls basketball team under coach Patty Columbia which advanced into the playoffs for the second year in a row this past season. “I love basketball,” Clark said. “I started in like second grade. It’s my fun sport, I just love playing it with my friends. I love playing with Skyler.” Clark has been a three-year starter and will enter her senior season needing 153 points to reach 1,000.
Tidbits: Clark has yet to throw a no-hitter in her high school career. “That’s definitely one of the goals I still have out there to do,” Clark said. … Clark plays for the Steel City Athletics travel team. “I usually pitch and play first base for them.” … Clark has come on as a hitter this season. “I’ve been working hard on improving my hitting, getting with my trainer, hitting off a tee. I’m a much better hitter this year. That’s another thing I had on my checklist that I can check off.” … Clark loves to watch college softball. “I watch some of the best teams like Texas and Oklahoma,” she said. “Those teams are so locked in, so professional with how they play.” … Clark likes to chill with her friends in her free time. “A lot of them are like non-athletes so I can kind of just forget about sports for a while and hang out with them and have fun.” … Clark has one sister, Olivia Clark, who is a 19-year-old freshman at IUP.
– Compiled by Rob Burchianti