CALEDONIA — Cassie Obman has attended enough college signings to know how she wanted hers to look.
But if you have watched Obman play softball, you know her signing ceremony wasn’t going to be thrown together at the last minute.
That’s because Obman is a perfectionist. She doesn’t hesitate to use the word “perfect” when she talks about the development of her skills as a catcher. All it takes is one Caledonia High School game for you to understand Obman has invested countless hours learning how to be the best defensive catcher she can be.
Obman used that same mind-set when it came time to organize her signing in the Caledonia High library. Instead of stationing a table against a far wall or deeper in the room like many of the signings she has attended over the years, Obman opted to put the table in the front of the room so she could hang a banner with a Caledonia High ‘C’ behind it.
On the table, Obman arranged some of the tools of her trade — a catcher’s mask, a glove, and a bat — as well as clothing — a cardinal Caledonia High game jersey and a blue Mississippi Express pullover and team hat — that traced the arc of her softball career. The final piece to the puzzle was situated in the center. Obman handled that with aplomb — just like it was a pitch in the dirt — as she signed her National Letter of Intent with East Central Community College in Decatur to signal the next step in her journey.
“It really was a culmination of all of the hard work,” Obman said of her signing. “I wanted the ceremony to be perfect, too, because this is the biggest day of my career up to this point. I hadn’t seen all of the decorations all together yet, and I was worried that it wasn’t going to look perfect. I was worried my signature wouldn’t look good, but it all came together to look really amazing and perfect. Maybe that is a symbol, and maybe my career will progress and look perfect from here.”
Obman said she worked with her mother, Kim, and “a lot of people” to brainstorm ideas for how she wanted to organize her signing. She placed a yellow softball inside a catcher’s mitt and a catcher’s helmet on the left corner of the table. Her cardinal No. 21 Caledonia game jersey was draped on a stack of six, thick, green Literature books. On the other end of the table, a white box propped up a long-sleeved gray ECCC T-shirt. In front of it, a white Louisville Slugger bat with purple trim had its barrel facing to the right. It and another yellow softball rested on the blue pullover for the Mississippi Express, Obman’s travel ball team.
Against the wall across the room, a table of goodies, including drinks and vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, waited. The cupcakes, which Obman said were made by the mother of her closest friend, had yellow icing to resemble the color of a softball. The yellow icing also had two red stripes to make them resemble a softball.
“It came out better than I thought it would look,” Obman said of the arrangements.
Obman is coming off a junior season in which she hit .409, had 27 hits and 22 walks, and played an integral role in Caledonia beating Amory and Cleveland in the Class 4A State tournament. She also had six doubles, two triples, and one home run, but it was her work with pitchers Hope Burton and Carlee Dale that earned her the Class 4A, Region 4 Defensive Player of the Year.
Whether the pitch was inside or outside or in the dirt or at the letters, Obman was going to be there to block it or catch it. She said earning the defensive honor last season was one of her proudest moments because it showed people recognized all of the hard work she has put into becoming a great catcher. She said her parents, especially her father, Joel, have helped instill in her a desire to be the best. She said that mentality motivated her to pursue her dream to play softball in college.
“I have always wanted to be the best,” Obman said. “I have always had that passion. It really comes from my dad. He made me want to be perfect all of the time. I have just worked my hardest to get there.”
Obman acknowledges that being perfect “is almost impossible,” but she said it is better to set her goals at that level so she always is pushing herself. She knows she will have to have that same attitude later this year when she becomes a member of the ECCC program.
Obman will join Heritage Academy pitcher Kaitlyn Oswalt, who signed with ECCC last week. In 2015, ECCC finished 48-14 and was the runner-up at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Championship. It finished second in the South Division of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC), second in the MACJC State tournament, and second in the NJCAA Region 23 tournament.
Former Oak Hill Academy standout Maegen Ellis was a freshman on ECCC’s 2015 softball team.
Obman said she doesn’t know Ellis, but she has played travel ball with Oswalt, so she is excited about her future.
“I didn’t know much going into the visit, but it was amazing,” Obman said. “The way (coach Kristin Chaney) described their program just clicked. I knew from that point that is where I wanted to be. They are the hardest workers. I hope we can surpass the record they had last year and become No. 1 in the nation.”
Tony Knight, who has coached Obman with the Mississippi Express, a travel ball team based out of Tupelo, said Obman, who plays on the 18-U A Class team, likely could play in college this season. He said she plays catcher 80 percent of the time and also plays third base with the Mississippi Express. Knight said Obman has honed her skills as a catcher and had no trouble transitioning to doing what she needed to do at the travel ball level.
“A lot of kids like to hit the home run and like to steal bases and make a big, outstanding catch,” Knight said. “Cassie’s big thing is she wants to be the best blocker of any catcher she has ever seen. With that kind of desire and motivation from within, it has made her a lot better.
“She not only is a competitor in her own right, she also is a competitor for her teammates. She enjoys seeing them make great plays. She enjoys a win, but she wants to win playing the best she can play. That is kind of what makes her stand out.”
Knight said Obman is so good defensively because she gets to her knees so quickly. He said Obman probably has the best footwork of any catcher he has coached in 11 years in travel ball. Knight said Obman learned how to throw runners out from her knees. He said she didn’t have the confidence to do it consistently last year, but he said she worked through it and improved, so he anticipates her throwing a lot of runners out.
Knight said that is another part of Obman’s game that pitchers should love.
“When a pitcher knows they can throw one in the dirt and they know it is not going to the backstop, they have more confidence,” Knight said. “It makes them pitch better. They know she is going to get in front of it and keep it from getting to the backstop.”
Blocking balls like that comes naturally to Obman. After all, it is something she has been working at for years because she knows her ultimate goal is elusive. That hasn’t stopped her from trying to be perfect, though, and she said she doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.
“Perfect is almost impossible, but that is the end goal. That is what we are all striving for,” Obman said. “If you’re not playing to win, there really is no reason to be playing at all.
“I want to be perfect. It is hard, and it seems impossible sometimes, but when I finally get there — if I get there — it will be amazing.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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