PEORIA MAGAZINE May 2023

MOVING TO A BIGGER BALL Whitlock continued playing baseball until she was 14. She used her time on the high school boy’s baseball team as a training ground for her transition to fast-pitch softball, with sights on a college scholarship. The 18-under fast-pitch softball team she was invited to play on with young women much older than her won nationals, with Whitlock as the starting catcher, Plew said. “She had a cannon for an arm. Kids didn’t run on her. Very accurate. She just had a lot of natural ability and was very good defensively,” he said. She was recruited by softball pow erhouses UCLA and Fresno, as well as South Carolina, where she would land. It was in college that Plew said Whitlock “didn’t just learn the game, she learned to coach. As a catcher you need to know what everyone on the field is doing and anticipate what’s going to happen.”

(Top inset photo) Christina Whitlock as a Little League baseball player, age 8. (Bottom inset photo) Christina Whitlock was a two-time NCAA All-American softball catcher at the University of South Carolina

involved coaching, scouting, technology and player performance analytics. NEXT STOP, PEORIA Whitlock still hoped for the opportunity to be an on-the-field coach. That oppor tunity came in a phone call from LaRoque as she and her dad waited at a hospital in Idaho during a medical appointment for her brother. “It was a nice surprise. I had a little bit of a breakdown and probably cried a little too much,” she said. “I was with my father and it was great to be able to share that with him.” It was like a dream come true for her, Plew said. “I think it was a huge relief to her,” he said. “I knew she had the ability. I was proud. I was definitely proud.” With the Chiefs, Whitlock is responsible for setting up the practice field and

THE CARDINALS CONNECTION

The late Charles Peterson, a veteran scout for the Cardinals, introduced Whitlock to the organization and its programs in diversity and inclusion. “I met him at a facility in South Carolina that I was working out of. He quickly became a dear friend,” she said. “I started doing some birddog scouting for him. He mentored me. I miss him.” Peterson died in September 2020 from COVID-19. Whitlock was hired as a fourth coach by the Cardinals in 2020, but could not take the position when the season was canceled due to the pandemic. She took 2021 off and spent the time with her two sons, but still dreamed of the day she would coach in the big leagues. She spent the 2022 season as a video and technology fellow at the Cardinals’ Jupiter, Florida complex. The position

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