CARROLLTON, Ala. — Abigail Colvin might be a little hard on herself.
But the Pickens Academy senior has a knack for picking out the right memory to illustrate how much she has matured as a softball player since she was a sixth-grader.
“It was my first year playing softball, and I am pretty sure when they were throwing the ball back to the pitcher I swung,” Colvin said. “It was that bad. I was so late. I couldn’t play or hit at all.”
Colvin stood in front of family members, friends, and teammates Monday in the Pickens Academy auditorium and talked about her memories of her first games. Colvin might not have swung at a pitch that late or been as “bad” a player as she said she was, but her point was that she has come a long way since she first started playing softball.
Colvin’s humble beginnings as a fast-pitch softball player meant even more Monday because those early troubles paved the way for her to celebrate her decision to play softball at Itawamba Community College in Fulton.
Colvin said she already had signed her NLI, so the day was a culmination of a journey that started as a slow-pitch player in Macon, her hometown, and has continued at the Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) school in West Alabama.
“Considering I have come from hitting the catcher to I am signing in college, I have come a long ways,” said Colvin, who has attended summer softball camps at ICC since she was 12 years old. “I am not kidding. They threw it and I was like, ‘Oh gosh’ and then I swung and the catcher was throwing it back to the pitcher.”
Colvin admitted she was scared because she only had played slow-pitch softball to that point. She said a ball coming to the plate at 60 mph dazed her and forced her to dedicate herself to the sport. She said she improved a little bit as a seventh-grader before things started “to click” as an eighth-grader. She feels she hit her stride the summer between her eighth- and ninth-grade years when she played on her sister, Marion’s, travel ball team. Marion Colvin, who also played softball at Pickens Academy, went on to play softball at Shelton State (Ala.) Community College.
Colvin said the opportunity to play with older girls on a travel ball team allowed her to hear a lot of talk about playing softball in college. She quickly discovered she had the ability and started to believe she could follow the same path.
“We are a lot different than we used to be, and we have been through a long haul,” Colvin said about her classmates in attendance. “It is great to have them here with me because I know they have been here since the beginning.
“I have been to (ICC’s) camps, have seen what their girls can do, and I know what kind of girls they recruit. It is just stepping up to the level. You have to be good. You can’t just go and just play, go half, and not try. You have to be good.”
Colvin started playing varsity softball at Pickens Academy as a sixth-grader. She played a key role in the Lady Pirates runner-up finish in the Alabama Independent School Association Class 2A State tournament last season. Pickens Academy finished third in the state in Colvin’s sophomore season. The team has won three-straight regional championships.
Individually, Colvin earned All-Region honors last season and All-District honors as a sophomore. Last season, she hit .422, which was an improvement from her .311 batting average as a sophomore.
As a ninth-grader, Colvin was named best utility player and earned All-District Honorable Mention honors.
Pickens Academy coach Wade Goodman has coached Colvin since the sixth grade. He said she has played virtually every position for the Lady Pirates. This season, he said there is the possibility she could see a lot of time at the one position — catcher — she probably has seen the least action. He said that is a tribute to the versatility of a player who is a hard worker and a great teammate.
“She always has had an above average arm and she always has swung the bat really well,” Goodman said.
Goodman didn’t agree with Colvin’s assessment of her play as a sixth-grader because he said she always has understood the game, even if she needed a little time to adjust to the speed in which it was played. Goodman said Colvin started in right field and has seen playing time at third base, first base, shortstop, and pitcher.
Goodman said Colvin always has had the goal of playing softball in college. He credited Colvin’s parents, Pam and George, for instilling a work ethic in their daughters that helped them develop a love for softball. He feels that attitude will serve Abigail well when she plays at ICC.
“If she is not hitting well or playing well defensively, she will stay after,” Goodman said. “She will hit, hit, hit, or ask me to hit her fly balls or ground balls. If she is not playing well, she wants to work on it. That is really going to pay dividends this year with her being a senior. Hopefully, some of those younger girls will take it on.”
Basketball
n Pickens Academy 57, North River 36: Olivia Lewis had 10 points and Allison Latham had nine to help the Lady Pirates improve to 5-0.
n In the boys game, Austin Goodman had 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Pickens Academy to a 46-35 victory. Will Jones had nine points and eight rebounds for Pickens Academy (5-0), which will play Monday at Sumter Academy.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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