DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

Her first pitching start of the season, and people were already yelling at Estancia High sophomore Nicole Marlborough.

The phrases used by Bolsa Grande batters, however, weren’t exactly encouraging in the teams’ nonleague game on March 24. Marlborough lasted an inning, walking six batters and hitting three.

“In the same inning, [Marlborough] hit the same girl twice in the ankle,” Estancia Coach Tommy Rausch said. “She led off the inning and got hit by a pitch, then it came back around to her and she got hit again. She wasn’t too happy. But, to see where Nicole was there to where she is now is amazing.”

To be exact, today Marlborough is scheduled to be in the circle again. This time, she’ll be starting the Eagles’ first-round CIF Southern Section Division IV playoff game against visiting South Hills.

Marlborough, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, is a big reason why Estancia will be there. She helped the Eagles clinch their second straight Orange Coast League title on May 5, pitching into the seventh inning and giving up just two earned runs in Estancia’s 10-5 victory over Calvary Chapel.

It was the first time in her four starts that Marlborough had lasted more than 2 1/3 innings. And this time, her teammates were able to yell other, more positive and encouraging words at her.

“I was really, really, really nervous up there,” Marlborough said. “I had never gone very far in a game. I really wanted to go far, because [senior] Abby [Koff] is a good pitcher, but when they adjust to her they tend to hit it far. Not that I’m much faster, but it seems to go a little better. I really wanted to play well, and I knew it was our seniors’ last [regular-season] game, so it was important for them to win.”

Marlborough can also swing the bat, as she’s batting .365 with 25 RBIs this season. But, in under two months, she went from a third baseman to Estancia’s starting pitcher, despite never having been in the circle in her six previous years of softball.

The Eagles needed a pitcher.

Sophomore Amy Hartwell started the season in the circle, but the team could use her glove at third base.

“I was really proud of [Marlborough],” senior catcher Haylee Whitney said after the title-clinching win over Calvary Chapel. “She’s come a long way since the beginning of the season, not pitching at all. Halfway through the season was when she started pitching. We had Amy pitching, but you know, she’s a third baseman. We had to find an alternative.”

Others who tried to pitch included Koff, freshman Claire Woodside and junior Cassandra Menendez. Koff still has a stopper type of role for the Eagles (15-7), but it is Marlborough who has blossomed into a starter.

“I’ve taught a lot of girls how to pitch, and she’s got the farthest in five weeks that I’ve ever seen,” Coach Judd Fryslie said. “It’s hard to do.”

Marlborough, a transfer from Edison, knows that effective softball pitchers usually don’t come overnight. She went to just one pitching lesson for about an hour, but has been working extensively at practice.

“It’s a huge tribute to what Coach Fryslie can teach, and it’s a huge compliment to Nicole as to how well she’s picked it up and grasped the concepts, how coach-able she is,” Rausch said. “It’s frankly amazing she’s done as well as she has. And, I don’t know if we’d won league if she hadn’t.”

There is really no big secret to the success. Marlborough has been working hard and throwing more strikes, and her confidence has also increased.

“I was working to get better, so when I started doing well and pitching in games, I decided to stick with it for our team,” she said. “It would be good next year to have another pitcher.”

Marlborough said her younger brother, Jake McIntyre, has also begun to pitch. McIntyre is a third-grader at Adams Elementary.

“When I told him I started pitching, he was like, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll try to pitch too,’ so we can compete with each other,” Marlborough said. “I was warming him up the other day, and he’s getting there. He’s not the best pitcher they have on the team, but he’s pretty good.”

So is Marlborough, and she should only get better. It has been 11 days off since the last league win over Calvary Chapel, enough time to teach her even more about pitching before CIF starts.

Fryslie has worked with her more on developing a couple of more pitches and changing speeds. But, the biggest factor may be Marlborough just staying calm in the circle.

“I don’t know,” Marlborough said. “Pitching seems to have a lot more stress than third base does. I just have to remember to breathe, take deep breaths and calm myself down. All my teammates were telling me to find my happy place, think of something happy, which sometimes works.”

After winning league, the Eagles have already reached their happy place.

They’ve found their pitcher.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.