Danielle Chitkowski never played third base before she got to Syracuse.

Last season, needing a third baseman, coaches stuck her there and she learned throughout the year how to man the hot corner.

“She progressed so much at third last year and then at our end-of-the-year meetings, she was telling us how much she loved third,” assistant coach Matt Nandin said, “and we said, ‘OK, you might be switching to first next year.’”

Like anything, Chitkowski took the news in stride and learned to play her new position. In Syracuse’s (4-6) 10 games, Chitkowski has played first base in five, third base in four and both in one. The junior uses her calming presence to anchor the infield from first and her willingness to adapt when she moves to third.

Though she has found herself at the corner infield spots in every game this season, she rarely played either in high school.

“She was recruited as a shortstop who could pitch,” SU head coach Leigh Ross said. “It’s nothing that she did wrong, we didn’t really need her (to pitch) and this team needs her more as a positional player.”

When her pitching career slowed in high school, Chitkowski started playing first base. The hardest part still was getting used to the bigger, heavier glove that first basemen use, she said.

She also wasn’t used to stretching to pick balls, so Nandin and Chitkowski added extra stretches to her regimen to get more flexible.

“Sometimes I’ll pick a ball and I’ll be like, ‘Oh, look what I found, didn’t know I could do that,’” Chitkowski said.

During a game this past fall, an errant throw from infielder Corinne Ozanne drew Chitkowski off the bag to her left. She stretched out to grab the ball, reached back and tagged out the runner.

“Whoa, I had the ball through all of that?” Chitkowski said.

The position is becoming more instinctual for the utility player.

SU moves Chitkowski’s position between games of a doubleheader, too. Going from first to third is hardest, she said, because she has to remember she doesn’t have a big glove on anymore and ground balls aren’t as easy to field.

The team only does fielding drills before the first game of a doubleheader, so Chitkowski and Ozanne go to the side of the field between games so Chitkowski can practice her new position and glove.

Matt Nandin and student coach Morgan Nandin put ankle weights on Chitkowski and hit her balls at third to quicken her first step. Matt Nandin also taught her how to play the angles at first and third and told her she could step back to give herself extra time before the ball got to her.

“She’s a big, long body and for a first baseman, that’s ideal,” Matt Nandin said. “And as far as third goes, I thought she’d be perfect over there, she’s got a strong arm.”

Just a couple weeks ago, Chitkowski said, Morgan Nandin told her how much better her footwork looked.

When Chitkowski’s at first, her teammates say they know she will be there to make the catch even on a bad throw. And when she’s at third, Ozanne is usually at shortstop, and Chitkowski cracks jokes to lighten the mood with an intense teammate.

“A ball’s hit to her and she makes a good play — kind of thing that just gives you a good trust in who she is and the way that she plays,” Ozanne said. “Her presence on the field is what is relaxing to the rest of the team.”

Published on February 17, 2015 at 12:12 am