The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Sports

July 4, 2009

Humphreys having success in Germany

By Dan Stillwell

Work can wait for Whitney Humphreys.

There’s still a lot of softball to be played.

“I’m having a hard time letting go of ball,” the Shady Spring native and former Georgia Tech standout said Thursday from Germany. “Maybe I will move over here and play for the rest of my life.”

Humphreys pitches and occasionally plays in the field for the Neunkirchen Nightmares of the Softball Bundesliga.

Last summer she played for the Gryphons in Denbosch, Netherlands,

“A friend asked if I wanted to play overseas again,” Humphreys said. “Last year was kind of lonely and hard, but I’ve missed ball a lot. Plus, how could I pass up an all-paid-for vacation?”

The Nightmares are in second place in the Bundesliga’s northern division. Last year they competed in the European Cup tournament, one of only two German teams to qualify.

Humphreys is having a dynamite season. She’s 5-0 with a league-leading 0.20 earned run average, and is third in the league in strikeouts with 45.

In 34 and 2/3 innings she’s allowed just 10 hits and two runs, one earned. She’s walked 11 batters, not allowed a home run and thrown just two wild pitches.

In Humphreys’ last outing, she threw a five-inning perfect game against Holm Westend.

“I was pitching well that day,” she said. “I don’t think they even hit a ball out of the infield.”

Humphreys has also performed decently at the plate, where she’s had five hits in 16 at-bats for a . 313 average. In the field she’s made four put outs and 12 assists without an error.

Although she batted .430 her senior year at Shady Spring, she had few at-bats during her years at Georgia Tech.

“I like to hit, but it’s frustrating,” she said. “I like pitching the best because I have control of the game. Other positions you have no control, but it is fun to make plays in the outfield.”

Humphreys graduated from Shady Spring in 2004. She helped the Tigers reach the Class AA state tournament finals four times, winning in 2003.

Her final season she compiled an 18-6 record and a near-1.00 ERA.

She played four seasons at Georgia Tech, where her 69 victories, 139 appearances and 5.11 strikeouts per game placed her second all-time at the school in each category. Her 425 strikeouts were third-best in Tech history.

Humphreys’ new home, Neunkirchen, is in western Germany less than 50 miles from the border with France.

“The funny thing is I never really liked to travel,” she said. “But I’m really liking it here because I love my team. The Nightmares (who have softball, baseball and youth teams) are like a family. I know everyone and it is really nice and comforting.”

Humphreys will stay in Germany until the end of September.

“My future plans? That’s a scary question,” she said. “My degree is in public policy and I don’t know what to do with it.

“But I got it from a great school, so I should be OK finding a job. I also want to go back to school and get a Master’s in social work and do something along the lines of criminal counseling.”

— E-mail:

dstillwell@register-herald.com

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