Hall of Fame
Certain things in life are considered to be priceless. As for Shelli Meils' right arm, the best term here may be tireless. The numbers that she compiled over her four-year stint at St. Francis are simply incomprehensible. Take, for example, her first season, 1988, when she worked in 293 of CSF's 372 innings played, or nearly 80% of the frames. Not only is that a school mark, but so are her 36 games started, 30 of which she completed, and her 50 appearances for a team that went 27-26 (yes, she did pitch in all but three games) and advanced to the national tournament. Head coach Dick Smith asked for an encore performance in 1989 and Meils delivered with a 29-9 mark as a sophomore with an eye-raising 0.60 earned run average. That's right! She only permitted 19 earned runs in 222.2 innings. Of course, the marks for wins and ERA are school bests as are the 15 shutouts she posted that season in picking up Honorable Mention NAIA All-American accolades. A three-time District 20 Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, 1989 and 1991, she closed her career with an overall mark of 91-42 with nearly one-third of those wins of the shutout variety (30) in the 827.2 innings she worked over the course of 162 games. All remain records to this day. Nonetheless, her greatest feat came in that '89 season when, in the third of four games on the day at the District 20 Tournament, she came down with a case of heat stroke. After being iced down the rest of the way, she went out and won not only the third game, but the fourth, as well, to send CSF to another Bi-District Championship appearance. A Hall of Fame recipient for Clifton Central H.S. earlier this year.
