Circle of Excellence

With a name like Oswalt, you’ve got to be a good pitcher, and Annelise Oswalt has certainly proven that to be true over the last two seasons.

The Flower Mound High School softball pitcher helped lead the Lady Jaguars to a district championship and three rounds in the playoffs in 2013, and coach Mark Larriba said he expects his junior hurler to pick up right where she left off.

“She brings a lot of experience,” Larriba said. “This is her third year as our starter, and she is highly competitive. I think that with that and all of her skills, we are pleased to have her going for us again.

“Now that she’s a junior and three-year starter, we are looking for her to be more of a leader this year.”

Oswalt said she is feeling very optimistic heading into the season and is looking forward to seeing what the Lady Jags can do.

“I’m really excited about this season,” Oswalt said. “In practice, we are looking great. I feel like our coaches have prepared us very well. We were doing all that we needed to do in the off-season, and all of our positions are definitely stacked. We are looking forward to it.”

Oswalt said she has a couple of goals for this season, both team and individual.

“I want to help carry the team as far as we can go,” Oswalt said. “I can’t do any of it without them. I just want to make sure that I do my job in the circle and at the plate, because they rely on me as much as I rely on them. I would love to help us get to the state tournament.

“Personally, I want to increase my number of strikeouts, hit some more home runs and improve my record.”

Oswalt finished last season with an 11-6 mark and 2.72 ERA, while hitting .378 with two home runs and 10 RBI’s.

She was also selected as the Co-MVP of the district in 2013.

The Flower Mound teen said that her passion for the sport of softball actually began at the age of five or six and said that she has quite the family pedigree in that respect.

“My mom played it and my sister played it, so I was something that I just did,” Oswalt said. “Luckily, I just learned to love it.”

Oswalt, who also played volleyball, basketball and ran track in middle school, focuses exclusively on softball now and has already committed to Texas Tech University.

She also plays club softball for Texas Glory Shelton, and said that something people may not know about her is that she has another great passion in her life…math.

“I have a strange obsession with math,” Oswalt said. “I love it. I don’t know what it is, but I just really love it. If other people have math homework, I will also try to do it, and I am hoping to become a doctor, so I think that really helps.”

The Flower Mound junior said to improve upon the success the team enjoyed in 2013, it will take a couple of things.

“We are going to have to have the attitude,” Oswalt said. “This year, we’ve been working on our mental side a lot more this year. We know we have the talent to get there, so I think we have to have that mental side of it to help send us further.”

Larriba said that he will rely heavily on Oswalt for leadership this season and said that much of the team’s success will depend on how she performs.

“She was Co-MVP for the district last season, so that should tell you what she means to us,” Larriba said. “We have other good pitchers on our team, but she’s the one that we lean on.”