Log in

Youngster goes yard, as Carlton homers to highlight Ozark win over West Plains

Posted

Audrey Carlton is flourishing as a freshman phenom at a time when she easily could still be an exceptionally efficient eighth-grader.

Carlton, still more than nine months shy of her 15th birthday on July 2, rocketed a two-run home run in Ozark’s 6-1 triumph over West Plains on Monday.

She’s the youngest of all the Lady Tigers, with even some of her fellow freshmen being as much as 11 months older than her. But Carlton landed in coach Jimmy Nimmo’s starting lineup in left field a couple weeks back and hasn’t looked back.

“I’m also the youngest on my travel ball team (Ozark Union) and I’ll think, ‘These girls are so much older than me,’” Carlton said. “This has been so good for me. It’s been a big jump and it’s been a great learning experience. I’ve grown from it.”

Carlton is not only younger than her teammates, but less experienced than about all of them, as well. This past summer, she completed only her third year of club ball.

“Softball has always been in my life. But I never played competitively at the level I am now until three years ago. My rec team wasn’t really playing and me and (catcher Natalie Morgan) were playing on the same soccer team. So, she said, ‘Why don’t you come try out for our softball team?’ I made it and I’ve been growing since then.”

With two homers on the season, Carlton is showing the most power as a freshman for Ozark since Emily Schmucker debuted with seven home runs during her freshman year in 2018.

“Audrey’s still wet behind the ears, you might say,” Nimmo said. “She’s learning the game, but is very strong. She has a lot of potential. She’s one of our betters hitters during batting practice. Out of a round of 20, she’ll probably hit a fourth of her pitches, if not more, out of the park.

“Being a freshman, she’s still learning the game and needs to have confidence at the plate,” he added. “She needs to know what her pitch is and step up to the plate looking for that pitch. She lets a lot of pitches go by that she should probably hit. Once she gets into her sophomore year, she’s going to be something special for us.”

“She’s very good and I don’t think she knows how good she is,” said Morgan, also a freshman.

Carlton’s homer to center field versus West Plains was a no-doubter. The 5-foot-9 right-hander had her arms fully extended while ripping a fast ball over the middle of the plate. Her blast cleared the hitter-friendly dimensions at Ozark by an estimated 30-40 feet and would have likely been out at any other park.

“It felt like I squared it up on the right part of the bat,” Carlton said. “In practices, I hit a lot out. It’s just a matter of getting my practice swing and putting it into games.”

Ozark’s offense also included an RBI-double by Savannah Hughes and a triple by Abby Ford.

Winning pitcher Jordyn Foley struck out 13 while firing a five-hitter. West Plains’ lone run was unearned.

Foley was overpowering without throwing a single changeup. Nimmo called for only fast balls and rise balls.

“(Nimmo) normally doesn’t call for many rise balls. But today her spin was really good and she was just going right at them,” Morgan said.

“Her ball was moving well enough with the two pitches we were calling,” Nimmo said. “We were in on the hands, down and away and had her throwing the rise ball. We don’t throw the changeup until it’s needed and she has a really good changeup. But why expose it when she is commanding the zone?”

Ozark (16-6) ran its winning streak to four games while surpassing its win total of 15 from all of last season. The Lady Tigers return to COC play by hosting Willard (9-5) on Tuesday and visiting Carthage (13-11) on Thursday.

“I knew this group of girls were coming in with great team chemistry and they have proven that to be true from the get-go,” Nimmo said. “Our biggest challenge here on out is finding more consistency on the offensive side. We’re starting to rack up some timely hits.”


X
X