ACA'S SIBLING RIVALRY: Warrick duo leads Eagles softball, baseball teams

Izzy and Isaac Warrick enjoy a rivalry at home but the fun comes in leading their respective teams at ACA. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE 

At Alabama Christian Academy, being the ace of the softball team and the baseball team not only involves some talent, it is a family legacy for the Warricks. 

Senior Isaac Warrick anchors the No. 1 position on the Eagles’ baseball team, while freshman sister Izzy is the ace in the circle for the softball team, providing an interesting dynamic around the Warrick household. 

“It provides a little bit of competition between me and her,” Isaac said. “We’ve always been competitive, but because I’m the ace on the baseball team, she’s the ace on the softball team, we like to compete a little bit in between each game we pitch -- who can record more strikeouts, who can produce more at the plate. It just provides a little more competition between me and her.”

So which one has the upper hand?

“I have more strikeouts than he does,” she said. 

“There’s also a rule on pitch counts,” he counters. “No pitch counts in softball, pitch counts in baseball. I will and always will have more home runs than she does.”

“I’ll let him have that one,” she finally responds. “I have a higher batting average right now, the highest on the team.”

But which one is the smartest?

“It’s me,” Izzy said. 

“I will always be the better player, it’s just the fact of the matter,” Isaac said. “She’s smarter, but when it comes to playing…”

“I’m smarter,” she interrupts.

“There’s nothing that beats my intellect,” he finishes.

Their competitive nature -- along with a dash of athleticism and a heavy mixture of pitching talent -- has made both among the best pitchers in central Alabama.

Issac emerged as the ace last season, capturing people’s attention with his good-natured but demonstrative behavior on the mound. He’s careful to never show up the opposing players, but starts psyching himself up for the game before the first pitch.

“He always has his Bang energy drinks before a game,” Izzy noted. “He’ll be doing handstands.”

It’s a Warrick tradition, one that serves as a motivator for teammates.  

“No one ever really tells me to calm down because I think energy in my game is a big factor,” Isaac said. “I want to be enthusiastic. It provides a little bit of character in how I play.”

Izzy stepped into a starting role at shortstop last season, playing as the second pitcher behind senior Rose Costanza. This year, she’s been the ace in the circle, but is much more subdued than her outgoing brother. 

“You would never be able to tell if someone hit a home run or if she just struck out 16 in a row,” ACA coach Lauren Veach said. “She’s the same all the way through. There’s been some really rough times this year where she’s shown just how mentally strong she is and what she can take.”

It’s not often you can throw a 15-year-old into a leadership role during the most difficult rebuilding year in a storied program’s history and expect her to remain almost stoic despite the chaos surrounding her, but Izzy Warrick admits she doesn’t follow her older brother’s lead when it comes to emotions.   

“I feel like being more composed and not letting the other team see one small thing, whether I’m excited or mad about something,” she said. “It keeps them guessing.”

She was prepared for this moment, her father Roman said. 

“When we trained Isabel, we told her these things are going to happen, focus on the next pitch, the next at-bat,” he said. “Don’t show negative emotion. The other team, their coaches, their spectators, see that emotion and now they think they’re in your head.”

After Isaac has finished pitching in the first game of the series, he moves to center field, a position he enjoys playing.

“It’s really exciting to be on the mound,” Isaac said. “The game is in my hands. But being in the outfield and being able to run down fly balls and make those spectacular plays is also something I love to do.”

While Izzy has pitched the majority of games this season, she remains one of the best shortstops in central Alabama. 

“It really depends on what kind of day I’m having,” Izzy said, when asked whether she prefers playing in the field or in the circle. “I do love to pitch but I also like playing shortstop. I feel relaxed in both situations. Wherever she wants to put me, I can play whatever position.” 

And it’s a safe bet that if one of them isn’t playing, they can be found cheering on the other.

“I really enjoy watching her play, seeing as she pitches a lot,” Issac said. “It’s really exciting to see my younger sister be able to do the same things that I do.”

“It’s fun to watch him, but not when he’s playing center field because there’s nothing hit out there,” she said. “But when he’s pitching, I do little critiques, like ‘he should have done this’ or ‘he should have done that.’ It’s really fun to watch him play and just to see him grow up over the years.”

ACA baseball has thrived this season, compiling a 19-11 record despite a rebuild and perhaps exceeding the expectations of some with a successful season. 

“I think we did,” Issac said. “We always start off slow, but the main thing with us was having to rebuild our infield. We lost our entire infield, they were all seniors, so we had a bunch of younger guys come in, having to fill big spots and I think we’ve done an exceptional job competing throughout the year and getting better every game.”

ACA softball had a tougher road with only two players returning with any meaningful varsity experience. The Eagles are 11-20 but hopeful of continuing a string of 25 consecutive postseason appearances since becoming a fast pitch program in 1996.  

“It’s been a challenge,” Izzy admitted. “We lost some key seniors and we’re rebuilding our entire infield and outfield, just accepting they’re going to make errors because we’re a young team, but also realizing we have the potential to go far this season.

“It’s kind of tough, but in some games I do have a defense that backs me up. In the LAMP game (an 11-inning loss), I was proud of our defense. I know as the season goes on, we have gotten better each game and I feel like when we enter the area tournament everyone is going to come alive and we’ll be ready.”

Despite the competitiveness and the good-natured ribbing between the two, Issac remains respectful of the difficult task his sister and her softball teammates face this season. 

“He reiterates to play your game and don’t let the fans affect you,” Roman Warrick said. “Continue to try and play at a high level, worry about your at-bats, worry about your pitching, your defensive play and do everything you can possibly do to try to win the game. And be supportive of the other girls that have made mistakes or maybe it isn’t their day, to be supportive and be a captain.”  

With both siblings holding down similar roles on their respective teams, it has fueled the competitive nature between the pair to new heights. 

“It’s very competitive in our household,” Roman Warrick said. “They feed off each other. She gets a lot from him. She reminds me a lot of him at that age. At 15, he was very competitive. They understand both games very well and help each other.”

And when they both play on the same day, it can make for some interesting evenings around the Warrick household. 

“It depends on what kind of game we had,” Isaac said. “If we both had really good games, we’ll come home and talk about it for a couple of hours. But if one of us had a bad game, we just leave each other alone and let them mull over what they did.”