El Toro's Chamberlain repeats as softball player of the year
El Toro's Lauren Chamberlain might go down as the most dominant hitter in county history.
Her statistics from this season alone were mind-boggling.
Chamberlain was so feared as a hitter, she was walked 52 times and hit by pitches 15 times. She had 111 plate appearances, but only 44 official at bats. What did she do with those 44 at bats? She had 20 extra-base hits, including 12 home runs, drove in 23 runs and scored 35 runs. She batted .591 with an .838 on-base percentage and a 1.614 slugging percentage.
She hit a county record 17 home runs last season, which is one shy of the CIF-SS record. She had a career batting average of .451. Chamberlain's 46 career home runs are a county record and place her third all-time in the CIF-SS record book.
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ALL-COUNTY SOFTBALL LINKS
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Chamberlain has been selected the Orange County Register's softball player of the year for the second consecutive season.
"It was definitely different this year from last," Chamberlain said. "Coming in as 'the home run hitter' I was not expecting to get as many pitches, and that's exactly what happened. So I came in with the mentality like, 'Look, I'm probably going to get walked a lot, so I'm just going to look for my pitch and I'm going to see what happens.'"
El Toro coach Jim Daugherty has coached many great players throughout his 26-year career, but he said Chamberlain is at a different level.
"Lauren stands above all others in integrity, humility, mental toughness, passion, leadership and incredible athleticism," Daugherty said. "What a pure joy it has been to coach her. It's not just her skill level but also in her attitude and work ethic.
"Lo represents what we coaches ideally want our team to demonstrate."
Chamberlain faced an unusual challenge this season. She had to maintain focus despite being walked and hit by pitches so many times.
"I'm going in there with the mentality that they're going to pitch to me and if they don't, they don't," Chamberlain said. "It's kind of out of my control, so I focus on what I can control, and that's getting a good pitch and doing something with it."
Chamberlain played for the Team USA Junior National team last summer and helped Team USA win the Pan Am Games championship in Colombia. She also plays for the prestigious Firecrackers travel ball team. She's pretty much playing softball year round.
"That's why I play, because I love it," Chamberlain said. "So I don't stress about the free time, but when I do have free time I hang out with my best friends.
"We go to the beach, we shop, we go to concerts, just all of that regular teenage stuff. But right now where my priorities are at is softball and where it's taking me in college. The free time, it comes every once in a while, but I love softball, so it's not a big problem."
Chamberlain, who has signed with Oklahoma, has played at the highest levels of high school and travel ball, so who is the toughest pitcher she has ever faced?
"Probably Keilani Ricketts at (Oklahoma) right now," Chamberlain said. "We played her a couple of times in travel ball. I mean, I'm going to school with her, so thank the lord. At least she is on my team. She gave me the toughest at bats of my life."
So who is the best player Chamberlain has ever seen?
"The best player would probably be Hallie Wilson (of Foothill)," Chamberlain said. "We're on the same (travel ball) team, but when we're playing against each other and I'm playing third base, I just can't play third base against her. She is just so tough. Overall as a player she is the complete package. I try to emulate some of the stuff she does and how she mixes up her game. She's just a great player."
Wilson is headed to Arizona and Chamberlain will be playing for the Sooners, so these two are bound to meet up again in the future.
