Last hurrah for Clover Blue Eagle softball trio
Last season’s Clover softball team came close to its ultimate goal of capturing the 4-A state championship but lost in the deciding game of the Upper State playoff series against eventual state champion Byrnes.
This season the Blue Eagle squad hopes to eradicate the bitter taste of that loss.
Shea Hall, who is entering her 14th year as Clover head coach, is very optimistic about her team’s chances of bringing home the state trophy.
“This group has had a taste of the playoffs and they are hungry to get back there,” she said Feb. 2, the first official day of the season.
Seven starters return from last year’s squad that finished 25-8, including senior triple threats Marisa Harkey, Blake Wallert, and Elizabeth Edmunds.
Harkey, a varsity starter since the seventh grade and Furman signee, anchors the team at shortstop. She was named All-Region and All-State in 2014 while leading the area with nine home runs and 41 RBI. Harkey batted .441 and added five triples, nine doubles, and 40 runs.
Before the team’s wind-blasted and chilly season-opening practice, Harkey reflected on 2014.
“Getting that far in the playoffs was an accomplishment,” she said. “We got that far, but not all the way. This year we hope to have that extra push to get over the line. The whole team has been working very hard during the off-season.”
On the left side of the infield, Blake Wallert returns for her final season. Wallert, primarily a third baseman, was selected All-Region after the 2014 campaign after batting .487 with a pair of homers and 28 RBI. The Winthrop signee, a varsity starter since the eighth grade, also stole 10 bases and scored 28 runs.
Looking forward, Wallert knows there is hard work on the horizon.
“We have a tough region again,” she said. “Nothing will be easy. We will have to play our best knowing this will be the last chance for the seniors. We keep getting closer and closer (to the main goal) so this time I hope we can go all the way.”
Hall said, “Anything can happen in this region. We cannot get complacent. Our bread and butter will be our pitching and our defense. There is a lot of good pitching in this region.”
Edmunds was the 2013 All-Area player of the year, and she won 22 of 30 games last season with a 2.33 ERA. Edmunds, who threw 165 innings last spring, is hoping to attend college on an academic scholarship. That should be decided April 1.
“I have heard from Clemson and Wofford and am waiting on Duke and Vanderbilt,” she said.
But first things first; there is unfinished business ahead.
“The whole team is so excited about this season,” Edmunds said. “We (Harkey and Wallert) all know each other very well and have a lot of confidence in each other.”
Clover opens its season March 9 with Boiling Springs.
This story was originally published February 8, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Last hurrah for Clover Blue Eagle softball trio."