Positivity defined Player of the Year Carty’s leadership

Angie Carty had already accomplished plenty going into her final season playing softball for Souderton.

But there was something she hadn’t yet done that would be a crucial piece to her senior campaign. The ever-positive outfielder was going to be a team captain and therefore, one of the players and voices her talented but young teammates would be looking to.

It was a task Carty knew was coming and one she embraced.

Much like her seniors had done for her four years ago as a freshman, Carty wanted her up-and-coming teammates to understand what it meant to play for Souderton but to also never lose confidence in themselves. To do this, Carty made sure that every possible chance, she was a positive force for the team.

“We were a young team this year and we had so much potential, every person I would talk to would say we had so much potential and could on a deep run this year,” Carty said. “Having that mentality going into the season was great.”

Carty balanced her role as a leader extremely well while turning another outstanding year roving center field and hitting at the top of the lineup and has been chosen as the Reporter’s Softball Athlete of the Year.

“I knew that I needed to do my job every game and I was almost starting off every game with this certain confidence,” Carty said. “Once we got out of our, I’d call it a funk at the beginning of the season and settled down and the lineup was agreeing with each other and clicking, it was like clockwork.”

It was an interesting year for Souderton, which mixed a strong group of veterans with some talented but unproven young players. Aside from Carty, the Indians had seniors Savannah Bostwick, Missy Wiley and Dayna Shelly starting every game and Alex Scheeler, while only a sophomore, back as a tested pitcher.

But with young players like Jen Klepfer, Bri Neely, Gigi Kehler and Alyssa McCormick trying to find their way, Big Red struggled early in the season. Carty started as the No. 2 hitter and even dropped to No. 3 for a spell, something the senior said was tough for her to adjust to and led to a slow start at the plate.

Souderton coach Steph Rummel kept mixing it up though, eventually moving Carty back to her natural leadoff role and the rest of the lineup seemed to fall in place behind her.

“When the team was struggling at the beginning of the season I knew we captains had to come together and do something, we had separate team meetings and talked to the girls about how important everything is,” Carty said. “That was the thing that changed most from junior to senior year. We needed to be role models for the younger girls.”

While she strived to be that positive force, Carty also realized there were some spots where that wasn’t the right approach. She attributed that to her growth in maturity the last four years and being able to recognize that softball is just a game and there was going to be another chance where trying to provide positivity would be more effective.

Early in the season when she wasn’t as productive as she wanted to be, Carty was careful not to let it affect how she acted on the field. If she hit into an out or struck out, she wasn’t tossing bats or slamming helmets, but instead hustling off the field and encouraging the next girl up.

“I want to be a teacher when I’m older, I love being in front of people, I love leading people,” Carty said. “My favorite thing is being able to talk to people and finding a way to pump them up. I wanted be approachable and I loved being a positive role model for them and I hope I left some sort of mark on them.”

For Carty, the goal was always to play the game as long as possible. After her freshman year, she attended a clinic at Kutztown, setting the foundation for her path to becoming a college player at that very place. Knowing she wanted to play at the next level helped her develop both as a player and in her attitude.

Carty also credited her father Bill for constantly pushing her and providing the right drive and direction in her career, along with her mom and two siblings for all the support they’ve given her.

Souderton closed out the regular season well before falling to top seed Upper Darby in the district tournament’s second round, leaving the squad a win away from states. Despite that, Carty said the season was undoubtedly a success.

“I don’t regret one thing about this season, yes a state run would have been great but I wouldn’t change anything,” Carty said. “I only wish that we all could have fallen into place a little bit earlier or the girls realized how good they truly are a little sooner.”

In career full of big games and accolades, there is one accomplishment that stands out above the others.

“Winning the state championship my sophomore year was incredible,” Carty said. “Being at my graduation able to wear my state championship medal was special. I still don’t think this year or last year were in any way letdowns. The fact we made it far is awesome, we were the last spring sport to lose a game and having that both years was just great.”

But in her final game on her home field, Carty provided a moment that is a strong 1-A to the state title. Her last hit at home was a walk-off grand slam against Springfield-Delco in the District I tournament, a moment the outfielder has thought about quite a bit in the weeks since it happened.

“I’ve hit home runs since for travel but I think back to it, I’m so short, I don’t hit home runs usually,” Carty said. “It’s funny. I just swung as hard as I could.”

Angie Carty’s never had trouble being excited to play softball and as she’s grown with the game, she’s tried to spread that energy to whoever’s in the same color uniform.

Even if she’s having a bad game, that’s no reason any of her teammates should also be.

It’s that, more than any of the hits, diving catches or wins, that she hopes her teammates remember in the coming years.

“I want them to learn from the leadership stuff, they can take away from the way we held ourselves and the way the captains this year tried to pick up all the girls,” Carty said. “I hope they think what would this captain do or this captain do? I think it’s all going be left behind in a positive way.”