JEFFERSON TWP— How well is Kirsten Brant seeing the softball?

"I can see the ball spinning now," said Brant, a senior shortstop on the Knoch softball team. "I don't know what it is. I am really seeing the ball well."

She might be able to count the strings on the softball, but she's having trouble counting all of her hits, home runs and RBI this season.

"How many home runs have I hit?" Brant asks herself, deep in thought. "Three or four. I can't remember."

After hitting another one on Monday, the answer is four.

One of those home runs broke a 1-all tie in the bottom of the seventh inning against Hampton April 8.

It was her first walk-off home run. And she almost called her shot.

"Before I got up to bat, I was thinking 'How cool would that be?'" Brant said.

Two days later against Highlands, Brant found a lot more to get excited about: hitting for the cycle.

It's no wonder that Brant's statistics look like something from an out-of-control video game.

Through 11 games, Brant is batting .585 with four doubles, a triple, four home runs and 12 RBI. She has also scored 11 runs and her slugging percentage is .927.

"When she crushes the ball, it's not just over the fence," said Knoch coach Scott Docherty. "It's OVER, OVER the fence. She just an incredible ballplayer."

What has set Brant apart, particularly this season, has been her penchant for coming up with big hits.

The more pressure-packed the situation, the more dangerous she has become.

"I like seeing runners on base when I come up," Brant said. "Some people get nervous. But I don't."

Docherty feels a lot better when Brant is digging into the batter's box with his team needing a clutch hit.

"If the game is on the line,I want Kirsten Brant at the plate with a smile on her face," Docherty said.

As good as she has been at the plate, she's been just as stellar in the field.

"I've never seen a girl at shortstop have so much range in all my life. She's like a gazelle out there," Docherty said.

Brant has been in the starting lineup for Knoch since her freshman season. As she has improved, so have the Knights.

Brant was a freshman when Knoch went winless. As a sophomore, she was on a one-win team.

Last year, Knoch advanced to the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 1993 and earned its first playoff victory.

Yet not many colleges came knocking on Brant's door clamoring for her services next season.

That didn't faze Brant.

"I think if I would have promoted myself more, it would have helped, maybe," Brant said. "I didn't talk to anyone. I didn't send anything out."

It's not like Brant will be sitting at home next spring, though. She will take her potent bat and slick fielding to SlipperyRock University, which has a softball program bursting with talent.

"I wanted to go there for physical therapy. They gave me an offer and I said, 'OK,'" she said. "Hopefully, I'll start, maybe."

For now, Brant is content trying to help her current team win.

"I think we have a good run in us," Brant said. "We want to get back to the playoffs and, hopefully, get past the second round."