Mariah is a flame-throwing right-hander who has dominated on the mound for the Vipers since the age of nine. With a blazing fastball that reaches the lower 60s with movement, a sharp-breaking curve, a filthy sinker, a vicious riseball, and a newly-developed change-up that moves like a knuckleball, Mariah has consistently terrorized opponents to the tune of 1.5 K/IP in her travel career. This, despite the fact that she has very rarely pitched against weaker competition.

 

In 2012, Mariah broke her pelvis playing school ball, but recovered in time to dominate during the second half of the Carolina Vipers travel season. Playing exclusively only in 12U and 14U Gold/A competition, she finished with 24 victories and 156 strikeouts in 139 innings. 

 

In addition to her pitching, Mariah also led the team in home runs (3 - despite missing a third of the season), slugging percentage (.657), and batting average with runners in scoring position (.575). She finished second (trailing only a slapper) in batting average at .476, RBI (61), and on-base percentage (.543). Striking out only nine times in 164 plate appearances, she could always be counted on to make things happen. 

 

After a season in which she threw the first perfect game in her middle school’s storied history, Mariah followed it up with another dominating 8th Grade season in 2013.  Her only loss in two years of school ball came in the Conference Championship game, despite allowing only two earned runs. Otherwise, she threw five no-hitters and averaged 1.7 strikeouts per inning during her two-year career. Again, Mariah never pitched against either of the bottom two teams in her conference or her stats would have been even more elevated. At the plate, Mariah’s slugging percentage of 1.200 led her team, as did her .667 on-base percentage.  She hit .543 on the year with 22 extra base hits in 17 games. Mariah was also one of three girls nominated for Female Athlete of the Year, before the school decided to do away with awarding Superlatives.

 

Mariah is a tremendous all-around athlete and possesses great speed, a tremendous arm, and an all-out hustle and drive on every play.