Home run queen also a triple threat

In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the softball team trailing Cornell, sophomore first baseman and pitcher Jamie Lettire steps to the plate.

The Ivy South title is hanging in the balance, and a loss might force the Tigers into an all-or-nothing tiebreaker game.

Lettire clears the dirt, wiggles her bat and calmly knocks a home run out of Class of 1985 Field to secure a Princeton victory.

This scenario occurred not once, but twice, this past weekend against Cornell, earning Lettire Ivy League co-Player of the Week honors.

Lettire’s versatility and calmness under pressure has sparked the Tigers’ success this season.

She is the only player on the team who has started all 45 games, and she holds the Tigers’ second-highest batting average. She also leads Princeton with 37 RBI. As a freshman, she hit seven home runs ? tying a Tiger rookie record ? and was named to the All-Ivy second team as a utility player.

All of this from a girl who cried when she found out her father signed her up for a softball league.

“I started playing when I was 9 because my dad forced me,” Lettire said. “I initially hated it … I don’t think I realized I loved it until high school.”

Once she sorted out her complicated affection for the sport, she began to balance three different positions on the field. While most pitchers focus their efforts entirely on pitching, letting pitch hitters bat for them, Lettire is a consistent presence in the batting order. When she’s not pitching, she can be found at first base.

“I like staying busy,” Lettire said. “Having those three roles works for me.”

As both a pitcher and a first baseman, Lettire has learned two different ways to look at the game.

“There are definitely two different mentalities,” Lettire said. “As a pitcher, you can’t let the score bother you ? or the other team bother you ? and at first base you can relax a little bit more. … Pitching taught me a lot of mental control.”

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That focused control comes in handy in high-pressure situations like the ones she faced last weekend against Cornell. Lettire also recognizes, however, that there is a time for letting go and being goofy.

“She obviously leads by example in her approach to the game,” assistant coach Alexis Alcantara said. “[But] she’ll also loosen the girls up with laughter.”

One morning during a 7 a.m. practice, Lettire disappeared from the track in the middle of a series of laps.

“It was a tough morning of conditioning,” Alcantara said. “And then, all of a sudden, she was in a spandex unitard.”

Lettire returned to the track in her new outfit and continued running her laps with the team. The stunt was the product of a bet by a couple of her teammates, and it lightened the tone of a demanding practice.

“I’m kind of notorious for being generally over-the-top,” Lettire said. “Everyone looked at me like I was completely crazy. Running at seven in the morning isn’t fun for anyone … so I figured, heck, if it makes people feel better, then why not?”

This seems to define Lettire’s leadership role off the field.

While the co-captains, senior catcher Beth Dalmut and junior infielder Kathryn Welch, are known to be the team’s inspirational speakers, Lettire can be counted on for spontaneous dancing and laughter.

“I don’t like to play tense,” Lettire said. “I’m kind of a goofball … I feel like it’s easier to loosen people up.”

Alcantara echoed Lettire’s self-perception.

“She can have a great time and make everyone else have a great time around her,” Alcantara said. “I think that’s her goal.”

This weekend, as Princeton plays for the Ivy championship and a spot in the NCAA tournament, Lettire will have to find that same balance between fun and focus, relaxation and control.

If the trend from last weekend continues, Lettire will have no trouble staying calm under pressure.