SHS pitcher Karis Smith bounced back from injury to lead area in HRs while excelling in the circle
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Suwannee pitcher Karis Smith is the LCR’s Softball Player of the Year. (COURTESY)
LIVE OAK — Karis Smith diligently prepared.
The Suwannee ace had a nice, long session of stretching out her muscles before the Bulldogs’ season opener against Dixie County. The previous day, Smith and her teammates finished out their preseason training regiment with a series of wind sprints. But besides a lingering soreness from that, Smith said she felt fine heading into the pitcher’s circle against the Bears.
But on her fifth pitch of the new season, Smith felt something weird in her left hamstring. The right-hander tried to shake it off as she prepped for the full count.
“I throw the pitch, and it just completely snapped,” Smith said. “It did not feel good.”
Smith had to be helped off the field after the hamstring pull, an injury that would cost her three games over the next nine days. It also set the table for a remarkable streak that saw Smith knock the most home runs (six) of any area softball player and lead her team in numerous batting and pitching benchmarks on her way to earning recognition as the Lake City Reporter’s Softball Player of the Year.
Smith wasn’t alone in coming back from her injury. In fact, she never has been. She has always had a close relationship with her grandfather, Terry Mixon, who was the first to nudge Smith toward a life in athletics.
When Smith was about 5 years old, she remembers Mixon flatly telling her one morning that she was going to play T-ball. In one of her first outings, she faced a similar scenario she would confront in that first game against Dixie County roughly 12 years later.
“I got hit in the face — and I remember this clear as day — (Mixon) told me that I had to decide right now if I wanted to play softball,” Smith said. “Ever since then, he has taught me basically everything I know. He’s taken me to pitching lessons, he’s gone out and practiced numerous days. He’s caught me pitching.”
That bond that Smith forged with her grandfather culminated in her playing for him as her coach during her 8th-grade season.
“He’s just somebody I really look up to,” Smith said.
The years of mental and physical preparation may have contributed to Smith’s relatively quick recovery from her hamstring injury. It certainly paid off for Suwannee. The Bulldogs’ star right-hander finished the year with a team-best 8-4 record with a 2.88 ERA and 93 strikeouts through 91 innings pitched.
The accomplishments didn’t stop there for the Class of 2022 ace. Smith also led her team in RBIs (22), runs scored (24), batting average (.517) and on-base percentage (.574).
That isn’t to say that Smith’s journey back from injury was a cakewalk. After rehabbing, she dropped two straight 1-run decisions against Lafayette and Trinity Christian Academy. Even after righting the ship momentarily with a pair of run-rule wins over Chiefland and Atlantic Coast, the misfortune continued with four more consecutive losses to drop Suwannee’s record to 2-14.
Still, Smith said she had confidence in her stuff after the last loss on that four-game streak. Nobody could’ve blamed her for trying to keep her team together, even if she might’ve been talking through her teeth.
But then the Bulldogs won their next game. And their next. And their next, until they finished their regular season without tasting defeat again on their way to an 8-14 record and a date with Paxon in the playoffs.
“There was no self-doubt,” Smith said of the shaky start. “We just rallied as a team, and we figured out what we needed to do to win. We needed more energy, because it takes every person on the team to win, not just one person.”
What makes Smith’s trek through the 2021 season all the more remarkable is her coaching situation. Having been under the stewardship of Jeff Smith going back to 6th-grade camp visits, Smith transitioned to the tutelage of first-year head coach Jordan Roberts. The former University of Florida softball legend pushed her team to achieve its potential. While the expectations placed upon Smith’s and her teammates’ shoulders were high, Smith said learning to manage those was the key to the team’s later success.
“It took about until that first win to start clicking together how we wanted to,” Smith said. “We needed to learn each other’s limits… Then again, I’m a player that always likes to be pushed, and she definitely pushed every single person.”
Roberts’ concentration on better batting habits for her players paid off once the team got on a roll. In its six-game winning streak to close out the regular season, Suwannee outscored its opponents 67-14. Smith never allowed more than two earned runs in any of those games while also scorching the ball from the plate, going 9 for 17 with 8 RBIs and three homers.
That personal streak of great hitting carried over into Suwannee’s lone playoff game, a 4-3 loss in extra innings against Paxon. Smith went 2 for 3 from the plate with a double, a run scored and a walk. In the circle, she did all she could to advance her team to the next round, throwing 7 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts before the Golden Eagles tied up the game in the bottom of the seventh and won in the eighth on a walkoff.
As heartbreaking as it may seem on paper, Smith isn’t so put off by the loss.
“That was the best game that we played all season,” she said. “At the end, seeing all my senior friends — Morgan (Larney), Kaiya (Hurst), Karson (Kirby) and Carson (Frier) — it was upsetting playing my last game with them. But as a pitcher and as a team, I feel like we didn’t feel defeated.”
Smith is verbally committed to play softball at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Ga., once she finishes her senior year. It’s appropriate because her grandfather — the one who taught her to get back up after being knocked in the face with a T-ball — was inducted into the ABAC Hall of Fame as a shortstop for the school’s 1975 and 1976 seasons where he helped the team win the 1975 state championship. He did this while wearing number 23 — the same jersey number Smith reps on the softball diamond as well as the volleyball court.
“I’ve worn that number ever since sixth grade,” Smith said. “We didn’t get asked for our special number or anything, but there were two small jerseys left, number 99 and number 23. So I picked number 23 and I stuck with that number ever since.
“I knew going into sixth grade that I wanted to be number 23 because I wanted to be my grandpa’s number. It was really fate that they had two small jerseys left, and I got number 23.”
Smith isn’t overlooking her senior year, however. She said she wants to be a more vocal leader heading into the 2022 season to help her team get over the hump of those tougher playoff matchups.
“I hope that I can be an example for the younger players that are coming up,” Smith said. “My younger sister Rachel, she’s going to be a sophomore, so of course I want her to look up to me and just be able to learn by example.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
P: Karis Smith
Suwannee, junior
The LCR’s Softball Player of the Year bounced back from an early-season injury to excel at the plate and in the circle. Nobody had more home runs in the area than Smith, who sent six over the wall, and she also hit a team-best .517 with team highs of 22 RBIs, 24 runs scored and a .574 on-base percentage. Smith was the Bulldogs’ ace too, posting an 8-4 record with a 2.88 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 91 innings while giving up only 22 walks.
P: Laila Arnold
Branford, 8th
Helped the Buccaneers make history this season as their ace in the circle, leading the program to their first district title, first playoff win, and first berth in the state semifinals to finish with a 15-5 record. Arnold was the area’s top pitcher with a 14-3 record and an area-best 2.18 ERA, striking out an area-best 138 in 112 1/3 innings.
P: Kadence Compton
Fort White, 8th
Spent most of her time as the Indians’ ace in the circle, striking out 112 batters in just 78 1/3 innings with a 10-2 record and 3.04 ERA without committing a single error all season. She also hit a team-high three home runs and had a team-high 26 RBIs while scoring 19 runs, all part of her .486 batting average and .532 on-base percentage.
C: Carson Frier
Suwannee, senior
The UCF signee was a standout behind the plate with a .983 fielding percentage. She could swing the bat too, hitting .397 with four home runs, 19 RBIs, 14 runs scored and a .500 on-base percentage.
1B: Madison Brown
Fort White, sophomore
Made it on base a ton, hitting an-area best .554 with an area-best .662 on-base percentage. She also led the area with 31 runs scored to go with 17 RBIs to help the Indians finish with a 14-5 record.
2B/SS: Ciara Byrd
Fort White, sophomore
Made it on base more than half the time with a .542 on-base percentage while hitting .365. She was third on the team with 18 RBIs and second with 24 runs scored.
SS: Cera McElreath
Branford, senior
The Buccaneers’ senior leader hit a team-best .515 and had team highs of 19 RBIs, 29 runs scored and a .560 on-base percentage. She also had one home run and a team-high 10 doubles.
3B: N’Coreyia Atkins
Fort White, freshman
Solid at the hot corner with a .867 fielding percentage while producing with her bat too. She hit .322 and had a .412 on-base percentage with 17 RBIs and 20 runs scored.
OF: Gracie Clemons
Fort White, freshman
Had a knack for getting on base and scoring runs too for the Indians. She crossed the plate 23 times and had 11 RBIs while hitting .333 with a .465 on-base percentage.
OF: Ellie Frierson
Branford, 8th
Another one of the Buccaneers’ youngsters that produced at the plate. She hit .333, homered twice, scored 17 runs and finished the season with 12 RBIs.
OF: Caitlyn O’Sullivan
Columbia, senior
Was second on the team with a .443 batting average and .485 on-base percentage. She finished the season with one home run, 15 RBIs and nine runs scored, and she had a .939 fielding percentage in the outfield.
DP: Madyson Sikes
Branford, 8th
Hit her only two home runs of the season in the Region 1-3A semifinals to help the Buccaneers defeat Hilliard for the program’s first playoff win. But she produced with her bat all season long while playing third base, hitting .449 with 15 RBIs and 24 runs scored to go with a .462 on-base percentage.
UTIL: Reece Chasteen
Columbia, senior
Due to injuries and the Tigers needing defensive help, The Emory & Henry signee made the switch from catcher to shortstop and excelled with a .938 fielding percentage. She was also Columbia’s top offensive player, hitting a team-best .529 with team highs of three home runs, 23 RBIs, 19 runs scored and a .556 on-base percentage, which included an area-best 14 doubles.
Oscar Saavedra
Coach of the Year, Branford
Saavedra led the Buccaneers to an historic season in 2021 with a roster that included five eighth graders. Branford won the program’s first district title and first playoff game on the way to a berth in the state semifinals as the only team in the area to qualify for the postseason. The Buccaneers fell to eventual state champion Trenton 3-2 in the Class 1A Final Four and finished the season with a 15-5 record, but proved they have a very bright future ahead.