By KEVIN WEAKS
Press Sports
Meagan Prince might be ready for the next level now.
A senior-to-be in the 2012-13 school year, the Westview softball pitcher is already playing at a higher level.
Prince was selected to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Class AA All-State softball team for the 2012 season following another standout campaign.
“I’m excited for Meagan,” Lady Charger head coach Jessica High-tower said. “She’s always been a player who put in so much work, so it’s great to see her rewarded at the state level.”
It’s that work ethic that will eventually send Prince to the next level, her coach says.
“She’s well on her way,” Hightower pointed out. “She has tenacity and determination, and she is very coachable.
“She wants to learn more. That’s the difference between a player who wants to get better and one who is stubborn.”
Prince has already committed to play collegiately at Kentucky. Based solely on numbers, she appears to be ready.
Prince posted a 21-6 record in the 2012 season, striking out 313 batters in 173 innings pitched while posting a 0.70 earned run average.
Among several no-hitters and one-hitters during the 2012 season was a perfect game against Gibson County
Beyond those numbers, though, is a player who not only wants to get better but wants to help her teammates improve, too.
“Pitchers usually become a team’s leader because they’re out there in the circle night-in and night-out,” said Hightower.
“Meagan’s been a leader by example. She does what’s necessary, which basically says to her teammates, ‘I’m doing my job; you do yours.’”
Two areas where that attitude stands out in Hightower’s mind are how Prince made herself an offensive weapon and how she helped develop a young cast of catchers in the offseason.
At the plate, Prince had 31 hits, including six doubles and two triples. She knocked in 12 runs and scored seven times.
“I told her last year that I wanted her to get a bat in her hand and work on her offense so she could help the team at the plate, and she did,” the coach said. “I’m most proud of that. She’s a lefty and the No. 2 hitter, so she had the mental advantage of forcing the defense to prepare for her slapping the ball.”
It was hard for opponents to pick on the Lady Chargers’ defense, too. In 793 total chances, Westview committed just 41 errors as a team for a cumulative fielding percentage of .948.
“It’s not just about the pitcher,” Hightower explained. “The catcher has to be a part of it, too. What good’s a strikeout if the batter reaches on a dropped third strike? She really bought into that and took it upon herself to work with all our catchers in the off-season because we didn’t really have a true catcher coming back this season.”
Prince and her teammates developed a mental toughness through the season, so rarely did those errors come back to haunt the team.
“So many times in high school softball, you see instances where the pitcher gives up a big hit or the defense commits an error, and then the pitcher just kind of melts down after that,” Hightower said. “That’s an area where she improved and our team improved this year.”
The Lady Chargers finished the season with a 21-10-1 record. Published in The WCP 7.24.12