Bend High junior Addisen Fisher is taking over the softball world.
The two-time Gatorade Oregon Player of the Year and recent UCLA commit only has a few things left to conquer in her time as a Lava Bear.
And she’s accomplishing them with just three pitches in her arsenal.
“A lot of people have, you know, four or five, maybe even six,” said Fisher. “I throw three, and I just pride myself in being able to throw them with like 98% accuracy.”
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Accurate and fast, clocking in at an average of around 68 mph. That’s the equivalent of 98 mile-per-hour pitch on a Major League diamond, but with the mound about 20 feet closer.
“I started with a fastball, and a fastball should have a 6-to-12 spin just over the top, and when it gets enough spin, that’ll take it and it’ll make it drop. So that fastball just turned into a drop ball and that’s just what I’ve thrown ever since,” said Fisher. “And then I throw a change up and I throw a rise ball,and that’s it.”
Fisher is one of, if not the most dominant high school pitcher in the country.
“It’s really something that I can’t explain to other people unless you’ve hit against or caught her because it’s just incredible movement,” said Bend High senior and catcher Sophia Weathers.
“It’s so awesome to hear the way other people talk about it because that’s when I really realize how good Addison is.”
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Just three different pitches, but thousands of strikeouts, records and multiple no-hitters for Fisher.
She’s a home-grown Bend kid.
“I’ve lived in my same house since I have been alive,” Fisher said.
She picked up the ball and bat age an early age. Before she knew it, elite travel league teams were recruiting her.
“She wasn’t my teammate for long because she ended up going up to like 18-U when she was around, what, 12, 13 years old,’ said Weathers.
It was around that age when Fisher was selected to play on a U.S. All-American team, and she soon realized the game she loves to take her places she’s only dreamed of.
The time came to take to the diamond at the high school level, but it came in the middle of a pandemic.
“The program, really, I feel like it became super strong over quarantine because this was really our only outlet,” said Weathers.
“(It) definitely tested our just our love for the game,” said Fisher.
A test they passed with flying colors as Bend High went undefeated that year.
Fisher won Gatorade Oregon Softball Player of the Year — the only freshman honoree of 51 softball players chosen nationwide.
“(I) didn’t really know that it was that big of a deal, and I definitely didn’t think I was going to win as a freshman,” Fisher said.
Her sophomore year, Bend High softball and Fisher both received national attention. The Lava Bears were one of the highest-rated high school teams in the country and Fisher was one of the top prospects.
The team fell in the 6A state semifinals in extra innings last season, but Fisher earned back-to-back Gatorade Oregon Softball Player of the Year honors.
This year, Fisher is one of the top pitchers in the nation. And in the first second that colleges were allowed to make contact to recruit her, the best college programs in the U.S. came calling.
“September 1st,” Fisher said. “This year was crazy. I got about 40 calls from Division 1 schools all over the country. At midnight, my phone started blowing up.”
An early life lesson: it’s not always easy being number one.
“I was very, very stressed, and I was in tears because what if I make the wrong decision,” Fisher asked.
After visits to different colleges, she found her dream.
“Once I stepped out in the UCLA uniform, it wasn’t real,” Fisher said. “I could have sworn that it just — it felt like a dream. I walked out and gave my parents a hug and they, we were all just so happy, and it felt so right.”
For Fisher, the junior only has a few things left to conquer.
“My biggest goal is to win national Gatorade Player of the Year,” she said. “That’s been my goal since I won State Player of the Year as a freshman.
And there’s one more title she wants — and she’ll need some help claiming it.
“To win a state championship with this team,” Fisher said. “That’s really important to me. It’s really important to all the seniors. So, I really want to win the state title for them, and they’re going to play a big, big part of it.”
