Ever since she was a little girl, Natalia Estremera has constantly heard one thing.
“It’s all the time,” said Estremera, who is a freshman at McNair Academic. “I always hear, ‘You’re Pito’s daughter.’ I mean, it’s all the time. I get that so much. I wish they would stop saying that already.”
The younger Estremera is referring to her father, Norberto “Pito” Estremera, who was a member of the 1988 Roberto Clemente Little League team that won the New Jersey state championship and who went on to have a fine baseball career on his own at Ferris a few years later.
Natalia Estremera credits her father for getting her involved in playing softball.
“When I was younger, he was always practicing with me and teaching me things, like how to bat,” Estremera said. “He taught me about the fundamentals.”
The younger Estremera even played in the same league as her father once did, but she played for the Roberto Clemente Little League’s softball program.
When time came for Natalia to attend high school, she chose McNair Academic, which was great news for McNair’s veteran head softball coach Vahhon McCullers.
“I knew of her, because I coached her dad when he played football at Ferris,” McCullers said. “I figured that if she had any of the talent that her father had, then I knew we had a diamond in the rough. I knew that her father was a player and I figured she could be a player as well.”
McCullers said that he went to meet the younger Estremera in February before the Cougars began practices.
“I could see right away that she was an athlete,” McCullers said. “I could see that she was a true player; that she was born to play the game. I had an idea that I would play her at shortstop. I also figured that I could let her pitch every once in a while. ”
So McCullers knew that he was getting a player with a rich baseball/softball background, who had natural talent and who could help him right away.
“She’s just a natural,” McCullers said. “A lot of other coaches have said that. She just has it. She also has that swagger about her. Being honest, I like that swagger.”
Estremera didn’t waste time getting acclimated with her new high school surroundings.
“She took charge right away and fell right into the scheme of things,” McCullers said. “She bought into everything and was willing to do anything I wanted her to do.”
“I guess it just came to me,” Estremera said. “I didn’t come here and want to be the best. I just wanted to play hard and do my best. I just had to play my hardest. And although I think I’m a shortstop, I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team. Just tell me where to play and I’ll play it.”
Estremera has been contributing to the success of the Cougars from the outset of the season, but lately, she’s raised her game to a totally different level, both as a hitter and as a pitcher.
Last week, she got her first varsity start on the mound and she defeated Snyder. In the game, the talented frosh had three hits, including a double and a triple and drove in three runs.
One day later, Estremera was back at shortstop and she hit two homers and drove in six runs in a win over St. Joseph of the Palisades.
On Friday, in her second varsity start, Estremera fired a no-hitter, striking out nine in a win over Irvington. She also had three hits in the game.
Needless to say, that’s a week to remember.
“I really guess I didn’t realize what I was doing,” Estremera said. “I was just doing my job.”
And at the same time, she was following in her father’s footsteps.
Because, for her efforts, Natalia Estremera has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
And with that, she joins her dad as the only father/daughter tandem to ever receive the honors in the 18-year history of doing the weekly feature at The Hudson Reporter newspaper chain. Norberto “Pito” Estremera was a Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week in the spring of 1993.
“I really felt like I had to impress my Dad,” Natalia Estremera said. “The first game I pitched, I thought I did pretty good and I thought I could do it again. But to pitch a no-hitter? I never thought I could do that. That was pretty exciting. All of my teammates were excited for me and looking for me to do something. As a freshman, I guess I’m starting off pretty well.”
Estremera just wants to continue to help the team’s cause.
“It really gives me joy to know that I’m contributing as a freshman,” Estremera said. “I’m never one to think of myself. It’s all about what I do to help the team.”
McCullers loves what Estremera has done for his entire program. The Cougars are enjoying their best season in recent years, posting a 13-6 record thus far.
“She’s injected so much life into this program,” McCullers said. “The girls all feel it. They know when Natalia comes up to bat, there’s a good chance that something special might happen. Natalia has been getting like two to three hits per game. She’s really given us all something to be excited about. We have a lot of promise now thanks to her.”
McCullers also adores Estremera’s disposition.
“She’s the same way all the time,” McCullers said. “She doesn’t get down and she always has a smile on her face.”
The younger Estremera has a wide smile these days, but for a more personal reason.
“I told my father a few weeks ago that I was going to get my own name,” Natalia Estremera said. “I told him that I didn’t want to be just Pito’s daughter anymore. Well, I think that this has finally given me my own name. People are going to say, ‘Hey, you’re Natalia’ and not that I’m just Pito’s daughter. I like that idea.”
But as for her performance last week?
“It’s kind of overwhelming,” she said. “But I know I got a lot more to go.” – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.