River Ridge ace Makenzie Goluba ended her junior year with an almost unfathomable 0.34 ERA.

A top Tampa area pitcher, the Binghamton bound Goluba went 23-4 while tossing 14 shutouts with 171 strikeouts.

"Her big pitch is the drop ball," said head River Ridge coach Kurt Goluba, who also doubles as her father. "When it's on it's usually tough to hit because it looks like a meatball, fastball coming right down the middle, you go to swing and it's in the dirt. That would be her go-to-pitch. She has a change-up and a curveball and a fastball."

But behind her arsenal of pitches is competitive weightlifting.

"Weightlifting obviously makes me stronger," said River Ridge ace Makenzie Goluba. "My velocity has went up. I was consistently around 58 m.p.h. pitching and now I consistently throw 61, 62. It was definitely a good change."

"It helped her tremendously last year," said River Ridge weightlifting coach Mike DeGennaro. "Her stamina on the mound. She lasted a lot longer in games and I think weightlifting had a lot to do with that."

Goluba picked up weightlifting just two years ago after initial red flags kept her away.

"Well, Coach DeGennaro had talked to me when I was a freshman, but I was always told that weightlifting was not good for pitchers," said Makenzie Goluba.

"Hind sight is always 20-20," said Goluba. "I want to kick myself. I should have let her do it when she was a freshman."

"The clean and jerk basically for your shoulder, pitcher's shoulders," said Goluba." I was told that that would be bad for me and I wasn't willing to risk that, but then I was told by the right coaching it wouldn't be bad for me."

Makenzie qualified for the state weightlifting meet twice all while maintaining her normal softball routine.

"I have a batting cage and a pitching mound at my house," said Makenzie Goluba. "So I pitch and workout every day. Softball is never ending."

Now all that extra time at home isn’t just spent with Dad, but the new head coach of River Ridge.

"It going to be different because (Ernie) Beck has been here for so long," said Makenzie Goluba. "He has some big shoes to fill."
A former assistant, Kurt Goluba, replaced Ernie Beck in August. In 19 seasons, Beck put together eight district championships, 16 playoff appearances, three final fours and two state runner-up finishes.

"He had a lot of success while he was here," said Goluba. "I am just hoping to continue that and hopefully just better it just a tad."

A lot of that will depend on his ace, but don’t expect the Knights’ all-time leader in wins to get any preferential treatment.

"The worst thing a coach can be called is a 'daddy-ball coach'," said Goluba. "You call me any other name than 'daddy-ball coach'.

"I know when I'm on the field he's not my dad, he's a coach," said Makenzie Goluba.

"She knows I'm gonna be on her to make an example outta her," said Goluba.

"Actually if anything he makes me work harder because he expects more out of me since he's with me every day," said Makenzie Goluba.

"Most people who don't know us," won't even know she is my daughter," said Goluba.