Gianna Hoch never envisioned herself as being a softball player in high school. She was primarily a soccer player when she enrolled in Kearny High School and played a little basketball as well, like her older brother, Dylan, who still holds the Kearny boys’ basketball single game scoring record when he scored 49 in a game in 2013.
But Kearny head softball coach Jimmy Pickel saw something in Hoch when she was running in one of Pickel’s physical education classes when Hoch was a freshman.
“I was never really serious about playing softball,” Hoch said. “But Coach Pickel was my gym teacher and he told me that I should go out for the softball team.”
“She didn’t even play softball until she was in eighth grade,” Pickel said. “I just asked her if she would think about playing. A day later, she came to me and said, ‘Yeah, I’ll play.”
Hoch was gifted with blazing speed and displayed that quickness on the soccer pitch and the basketball hardwood. Pickel thought of the ways that Hoch could capitalize on her ability to run.
It was a little bit of a gamble, but Pickel turned the right-handed hitting Hoch into a lefty, again with Hoch’s speed in mind.
Pickel wanted to make Hoch slap happy _ and as it turned out, it was a move that benefitted everyone.
“She has the natural ability to run, as well as having intelligence,” Pickel said. “I knew that she would be able to pick it up.”
When a softball player becomes a slap hitter, it’s to give the batter a little bit of an advantage, because the left-handed box a couple steps closer to first base. Plus, when a batter becomes proficient at slap hitting, she can get basically a running start out of the box. All that is needed is solid contact.
Hoch wasn’t sure whether she could become good at the slap.
“When he told me that he wanted me to slap, I was a little nervous,” Hoch said. “So I went home and studied it. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I never did anything in my life with my left hand. I didn’t think I was capable of doing it.”
When Hoch was a freshman, there were a few other Kearny softball players who were working at becoming slap hitters.
“We worked and worked,” Hoch said. “I learned that there was a hard slap and a soft slap. I just had to get the ball down and run. Coach Pickel told me that if I was able to do that, I’d be safe, that I would have to beat it out.”
At the time, the group of Kardinals trying to be solid slappers had a catchy nickname.
“We called ourselves, ‘The Slap Squad,’” Hoch said. “Now, it’s fun to see who we’re going to add to ‘The Slap Squad.’”
Right now, there’s really not a huge need for further members of that elite group _ except for there will be a void next year when Hoch has graduated.
But currently, Hoch has become so good at it that she’s bound to get two hits in a game _ at the very least.
In fact, Hoch has had at least two hits in each of the Kardinals’ last five games, helping the team to improve to 11-6 overall and 10-3 in the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League standings.
Hoch had two hits and two RBI in a win over Union City, had two hits and scored two runs in a win over Bayonne, had three hits and a run scored in a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to Millburn, had two hits and three runs scored in a 9-8 setback to Hoboken and capped her week with a huge three-hit, three-run performance in a 10-8 win over HCIAL frontrunner Ferris last Friday.
It meant that Hoch was 12-of-23 for the week with 10 runs scored.
In the win over Ferris, Hoch collected the 100th hit of her career, becoming the first player since Pickel became the head coach eight years ago to reach the prestigious 100-hit milestone.
For the season, Hoch now has 30 hits in 57 at-bats (a .526 clip) and has scored 29 runs with 17 stolen bases and nine RBI.
For her efforts, Hoch has been selected as The Observer Athlete of the Week for the past week. It’s a distinction that her brother also earned in January of 2013, so the Hoch family has earned a rare place in Observer sports history, as only a handful of brother/sister acts have been selected as Athlete of the Week over the years.
Pickel loves what Hoch has become as a player.
“It’s a blessing to have her take hold of what she’s doing,” Pickel said. “When she was a sophomore, we had her batting in the No. 9 position (in the lineup), but for the last two years, she’s been our leadoff hitter. She has great ability to get on base and that’s what we look for. She puts the ball and play and starts causing havoc with her ability to run. I love having a player like that. I’ve always loved players who can run. Her speed is the key. Defensively, in centerfield, she can go and get the ball.”
Pickel believes that Hoch’s athletic talents as a soccer player in the fall and running track during indoor season in the winter have helped her as a softball player.
“She has the athletic talent and speed to do it, but she also has the intelligence,” Pickel said. “Definitely, playing the other sports helped her.”
“I knew that if I put my mind to it, I could do it,” Hoch said. “I’m so grateful to Coach Pickel, who worked hard with me. It’s incredible that I’m the first one that he coached to get 100 hits. We’ve had a bunch of great players over the years, so for me to be the first one ever is amazing. I owe it all to Coach Pickel. When I was a freshman, I didn’t even know if I could be on the varsity, let alone get 100 hits. I just learned so much from others and picked up little things along the way.”
And Hoch has helped others develop the slap-happy skills that she now proudly possesses.
“They help me and I help them,” Hoch said. “That’s how it goes.”
Hoch is also happy with her role as a centerfielder.
“I thought I was going to be a second baseman,” Hoch said. “I love second base. I love the action. I love being on the field, making things happen. I just love the whole feeling of playing softball. I can easily say now that softball is my best sport. When I tell someone that, everyone is so shocked, because I always played soccer first and basketball. But I love playing softball and I love slapping. I feel like it’s my thing.”
Hoch is headed to the University of Florida in the fall to study accounting and actuality science. She knows that it means her softball career is more than likely drawing to an end.
“Maybe I can try out for a club team,” Hoch said. “I can play somewhere, even as just a runner.”
Pickel is a little shocked that Hoch holds the distinction of being the first player he coached to slap her way into the 100-hit club.
“For her to be the first, I wouldn’t have expected it,” Pickel said. “I’ve had some other great players, but this is what speed does. I think playing soccer and running track helped her immensely as a softball player and her ability to run. She’s one of three captains on the team, but she’s the one the others look to. Gianna has this calming effect, especially with the younger kids. She just loves being a part of it all. She loves her role.”
Hoch knows that the season is winding down and so is her incredible Kearny three-sport career. She’s slapped her way into Kearny immortality.
“This all blows my mind,” Hoch said. “I can’t believe I’m the first one to reach 100 (hits).”
Believe it. Gianna Hoch is a picture perfect slap shot, one for others to admire and emulate.
CAPTION
Kearny High School senior centerfielder Gianna Hoch. Photo by Jim Hague
Learn more about the writer ...
Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”