jim davis / arizona daily star

Other articles by Tyler Hansen:

Locals get chance to swim in fast lane Grevers at home in Tucson pool Opinion by Tyler Hansen: The winner is... High schools' best Pusch Ridge seniors treat their beat feet after another feat Weldon's intense focus leads to a big celebrationMiraculous comeback lifts Lancers Surprising Ironwood Ridge is 'prepared' for its opportunity to capture a state title Cienega overcomes ejections, late-game mistakes to advance Opinion by Tyler Hansen : Some fearless predictions as 2008 state titles go on the line Opinion by Tyler Hansen : Quiet Hawk makes noise with stick

Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic

Everywhere you turned Tuesday, someone was there to tell you Canyon del Oro softball pitcher Kenzie Fowler had lost some zip on her fastball.

It did not matter whom you asked. Teammates. Coaches. Opponents.

Even Fowler, nine months after she underwent life-saving surgery to treat thoracic outlet syndrome, admitted after the home game against powerhouse Sierra Vista Buena that she was only about 85 percent healthy.

"She's almost there," said Buena's star hitter Shannel Blackshear. "Not quite where she was, but almost."

This is what "almost there" looks like for someone of Fowler's stature:

● A one-hit shutout against the state's best offensive team, 2005 to present;

● 17 strikeouts;

● A game-winning RBI single against an all-star pitcher.

Considering how high Fowler set the bar in her first two years at CDO, her performance in a 1-0, eight-inning win over Buena was just one more step on the road to recovery.

Fowler was subjected to four surgeries in five days last June to remove blood clots in her pitching arm. Doctors removed a rib and unclogged a vein near her heart during one procedure that lasted seven hours.

Tuesday's game marked the nine-month anniversary of her return home from the hospital, and signaled that the vibrant teenager and prized UA recruit was back on her perch as Southern Arizona's most dominant player.

"This is the first big game I've pitched since last year," said Fowler, who threw a two-hit shutout in the 4A-I state championship game last May while in excruciating pain from the blood clots.

"It's important for me to have this under my belt and help me move on."

Tuesday's outing was Fowler's longest since the state title game, and she nitpicked afterward. She said she lacks her customary endurance and "wore out" in the later innings.

All evidence points to the contrary. Fowler struck out six of the last seven batters she faced, Nos. 2 through 7 in Buena's fearsome lineup.

She was faced with a 3-ball count six times, and brushed off the adversity with five strikeouts and a groundout.

"We had runners on here and there with some big hitters up, and Kenzie stepped it up, just like she always does and gets that strikeout," Colts coach Mike Tomooka said.

Added Blackshear: "Her ball is not as fast it was, but she's moving it a lot more, which is making it that much more difficult against her."

Fowler added the final touch in the eighth. With runners on second and third and one out, she laced a single up the middle against Meghan McIntosh, and Taylor Watkins scored the winning run.

"She never ceases to amaze me," CDO catcher Rose Magaddino said. "For her to come out every day and play like she does, after what she went through, is incredible."