After setbacks, Andrews making most of final season at Gwynedd Mercy

LOWER GWYNEDD >> All she’s lost has given Carly Andrews a greater appreciation for what she has.

The Gwynedd Mercy Academy senior is a three-sport athlete, a leader and at the moment, a productive starter for the softball team one win away from a District 1 title. She’s also very grateful for the opportunity to lace up her spikes, dig into a batter’s box and play this spring after two years of injury and setbacks no one could have prepared for left her an unwilling spectator.

Bound for Penn State in a few weeks, Andrews is hoping to make the most of her final stretch in a Monarchs uniform.

“The fact I’m able to play, I really didn’t think the season I’m playing right now was how it was going to end up,” Andrews said after going 2-for-3 in Tuesday’s District 1-4A semifinal win. “I’m hitting way better than I thought. I’m playing a position I wasn’t supposed to be playing, I haven’t played second base in a very long time but overcoming everything and being able to bring everything I’ve learned over the last 18 years to this team is amazing.”

Andrews, who would have been a four-year varsity player in softball had the COVID-19 pandemic not robbed her and fellow seniors Jorden White and Lauren Solvensky of a junior season, has been one of the best bats in the Monarchs’ lineup. The senior, who hits No. 6 in the order, was swinging to the tune of better than .450 at the end of the regular season.

That lost season became an all-too familiar refrain for Andrews the past two years, where she’s had part of four athletic seasons and a summer of travel ball taken due to injury or the pandemic. Even this year has been taxing, with the senior breaking her foot two games into her soccer season in the fall and not returning to action until her Senior Day game at the end of the basketball regular season.

“I was very upset because it was my senior year,” Andrews said. “Of course it was against Mount (Saint Joseph Academy), our rival school and I wasn’t really sure how the rest of my year was going to go. It delayed my playing time in basketball and softball, I was ready but then we were hit by COVID and lost two weeks so we weren’t sure how that was going to be moving forward.”

As a junior, Andrews got through soccer season unscathed but broke her foot during basketball season, missing much of the Monarchs’ run to a District 1-4A title and PIAA second round. Then the pandemic hit and the Monarchs lost their season before it even began, having to turn their bus around and go home while on the way to a scrimmage.

Andrews, who said she was still in a walking boot most of last spring, credits her time at Gwynedd for preparing her to handle everything that’s been thrown at her. An outstanding student, she’s balanced honors and AP courses on top of a three-sport schedule and aims to study biobehavioral health at Penn State with the goal of becoming a physician’s assistant.

“When I got hurt in soccer, I thought it was going to bring me down knowing I wasn’t going to play but instead it brought me closer to my teammates,” Andrews said. “The softball team knows through my injuries how it’s made me grow as a player but it’s made me appreciate the other sports I play way more than I thought I was ever going to because it’s made me play every game like it’s my last.”

A co-captain along with White, Solvensky and junior Maddie Seidel, Andrews came into her senior softball season knowing she had to be a leader and example. The Monarchs start two freshmen and three sophomores who didn’t get a single varsity rep last spring and at first, so things didn’t come together right away.

The young players proved themselves quickly, positions got figured out and Gwynedd Mercy Academy started rolling. There was also a specter of a COVID stoppage bringing everything to a halt, so Andrews tried to bring her mentality of making the most of every opportunity to her team.

“I knew I would be a captain and I knew the role I would be taking on,” Andrews said. “I’m constantly talking to the coaches. I knew what I wanted for my senior season but again with COVID, I wasn’t sure it was going to happen so I just try to hype everyone up and tell them they need to bring it all the time, the same in practices as it is in games.”

In her four years, the Monarchs have taken great strides as a program. They went from out of the playoffs in 2018 to the district title game in 2019 and looked poised for another strong season in 2020 before going 15-2 this spring and capturing an outright AACA title and returning to the District 1 final.

The league title, which saw GMA go 11-1 in AACA play, is a point of pride for the seniors. They’re hoping to add to it Thursday when they host No. 2 seed Villa Joseph Marie in the District 1 Class 4A championship with another title and berth in the state tournament.

“I can definitely say I did not think we were going to be in the spot we are right now,” Andrews said. “I did not think we’d be a win away from the championship, not due to our team or anything but with COVID still having an impact on everything that was happening, we didn’t know if we would get the chance.”

Initially, the senior didn’t think her athletic career would extend past high school but sports have meant so much to her, she doesn’t want to leave them behind either. She’s talked to the coaching staff at Penn State about trying to walk-on and is also exploring playing for the university’s club team.

Andrews is excited to see what the returning players do in the coming years and believes this year is a benchmark the program should strive for. Right now, however, she’s excited to see what her team can do with a championship at stake.

“I’ve learned so many things from the people and experiences that you have to play every game and do everything in the classroom like it’s your last day,” Andrews said. “I thought today could have been my last game so I went and gave it my all. Maybe I didn’t hit as well as I could or field as well as I could but I’ve learned the last four years at Gwynedd, especially through sports, it’s the people you meet that are going to make the experience better for you.”