LONDON — North Laurel’s Fastpitch program is no stranger in handing over the keys to an underclassman in the pitcher’s circle.
From Becky Abner to Abby Sears and many more in between, eighth grader Emma Carl has become the latest Lady Jaguar hurler to take on the role of being the team’s ace. Throughout the regular season,Carl has shown her talent, and what’s even more impressive is she has been even better since postseason play began.
In the first two games of the KHSAA Fastpitch State Tournament, she has posted a 2-0 record while striking out 13 batters in 14 innings. Carl also possesses an impressive 2.00 ERA.
Her success hasn’t been a surprise to coach North Laurel coach Chris Edwards. He has seen firsthand the past two seasons why she can do.
“Emma has been here for two years and has exceeded everything that I thought she could be,” he admitted. “She works hard and does what we ask. A lot of people don’t understand that she is only an eighth grader.
“Emma got a lot of experience last year and her role has only grown this year,” she added. “We expected a lot of her and the others and Emma has certainly done her part in getting us where we are. Of course, she comes by it honest, her mother Amanda was a great player here at North and still holds several school offensive records. I have challenged Emma to make a run at some of those records and she is definitely on a good pace to do that.”
Edwards noted that Carl’s future as a basketball player looks promising and expressed gratitude for North Laurel girls’ basketball coach Eddie Mahan’s support in allowing Carl to work on her pitching and hitting skills on her off days from basketball.
“Emma is going to be a star on the basketball floor as well,” he said. “She played a lot for Coach Mahan last season and I, as an outsider, would expect her role there to increase this upcoming season. I spoke with Coach Mahan during the basketball season and he agreed to let her come to the cage and get some bullpen work on their off days or after basketball practice.
“She was pulling double duty on some days and a lot of people didn’t realize how hard she was working,” he added. “An injury she suffered during a game in January slowed that down a bit and then they went on a great run to make it back to the state basketball tournament. It can be very difficult to adjust to softball after a long basketball season.”
When describing Carl, Edwards said it was simple — “the toughness and grittiness that everyone sees when she is in the circle.”
“Another strength is she listens and takes in what the coaches and the older girls on the team say to her,” he added. “She never gets too high when it is going well or too low when it isn’t.”
Pitching isn’t all Carl can do. She’s also one of the best hitters in the 13th Region.
Carl leads the Lady Jaguars with six home runs, and is batting .407 with 44 hits, 25 RBI, and 29 runs scored. She has also stolen eight bases.
She also delivered a lead-off double with her team trailing 4-0 in the top of the seventh against Boyd County that triggered a five-run rally, leading to the Lady Jaguars’ state tournament win over Boyd County last Saturday.
“It isn’t surprising to me that she can hit well and continue to be a force in the circle,” Edwards said. “She is the epitome of what a total competitor is. Everything seems to come very natural to her to it isn’t surprising that she can do them both at a high level.”
But what she has accomplished in the pitcher’s circle the past two games is one of the main reasons, North Laurel is two wins away from winning its first state championship since 2000.
“She has been very good in the circle the first two games,” Edwards said. “Fourteen innings pitched so far and 15 hits. We try to stay at no more than one per inning and she is right on that mark. She was below that during the regular season. I also like to limit walks, I would prefer to have zero. So far in the state tourney she has zero with 13 strikeouts.
“I will take that over a two game span every time,” he added. “One thing that she has really done well is pitch to her defense. Our defense has been really good and when she pitches to contact and the girls make the plays behind her it is a good combination.”
