WESTHAMPTON — Alexis Ferris didn’t talk much with Madison Philbrook the first time they met.
“She barely talked to me, and I thought she didn’t like me,” said Hampshire’s junior first baseman.
That type of interaction is common the first time Ferris meets someone.
She speaks little, only using the words necessary.
Questions are answered after thought, and she’s not afraid to say “I don’t know how to answer that.”
First impressions don’t portray Ferris fairly, though. Teammates say she can be funny and outgoing when comfortable.
“I frickin’ love Ferris. The first time I met her she was real quiet. Over the years she’s really opened up,” Hampshire junior Katy O’Connor said. “Sometimes she says stuff that she doesn’t mean to be funny, but because she says it, it’s funny.”
It just takes her time to reveal that side.
“She’s one of those people that’s really quiet at first but you have to get her to open up. She’s really cool and chill and always giggling,” Philbrook said. “She’s not like closed off. She keeps to herself.”
Her demeanor suits Ferris in the circle, where she operates separately from her team but far from alone.
“We’re pretty much like a family,” Ferris said. “I do trust them, and we rely on each other.”
Saturday at 3:30 p.m against Tewksbury at Worcester State, Ferris will pitch in the state championship game for the second time with an opportunity to break Hampshire’s career strikeout record.
She prepared for it like any other game, working on all five of her pitches to be sure her fastball, changeup, curveball, riseball and dropball are sharp.
The heightened stakes also add one element to Ferris’ preparation: managing nerves.
“I’ve got to make sure my nerves aren’t taking over me,” she said. “I feel like, in a way, it screws me up at the beginning of the game.”
Run support helps her settle in, as does Hampshire coach Brian McGan’s guidance.
He calls the pitches Ferris will throw.
They understand what the other is trying to accomplish.
“When she goes bad, I know it. When I go out to talk to her it’s not about pitching, it’s about trying to keep her focus,” McGan said. “Every time she’s on the mound you’ve got a chance of winning. She’s more of a strikeout pitcher than ones I’ve had in the past.”
She’s more of strikeout pitcher than almost anyone in Hampshire history.
Ferris ranks second on the Raiders’ career strikeout list with 657, trailing only Barbie LaFogg, who has 666.
The 10 strikeouts Ferris needs to break the record is under her season average, which sits just below 12 per game.
Achieving the mark doesn’t come up in Ferris’ and McGan’s conversations.
“We don’t talk about it. If it happens it happens,” he said. “She’s not the type of kid that’s worried about stats. She just wants to help the team win.”
Of her five pitches, Ferris turns to her curve and rise often as out pitches.
“If it works it’s kind of a good feeling to see them swing at it and kind of fall for it,” she said.
Her prowess on the mound has ensured Saturday won’t be Ferris’ last softball game regardless of the outcome.
She’ll attend Nichols College next season and play for the Bison.
But for one more game, Ferris is a Raider.
“People know who Alexis Ferris is,” O’Connor said. “If I was on an opposing team, I’d be a little bit nervous going up against her.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.