CARROLLTON, Ala. — Some days you just have to force yourself to smile.
Kacy Noland hasn’t had many outings in the circle like that, though, since she started pitching when she was 8 years old.
Even though Noland was told she wasn’t big enough to pitch, she persevered and hit a growth spurt that sent her on her way to becoming one of the most accomplished pitchers in the history of the Pickens Academy fast-pitch softball program.
But even the best of pitchers can have days when things don’t work.
Noland had one of those days in the regular season against Edgewood Academy. Whether it was her fastball, curveball, or changeup, Noland could only turn and watch as her pitches went over the fence. After the third home run in a row — the first time Noland surrendered that many in a game — Noland could only turn to Pickens Academy coach Wade Goodman and smile. She then battled back to strike out two of the next three batters.
A few years ago, Noland admits she wouldn’t have been able to handle a situation like that. Noland said she likely would have lost her composure or gotten frustrated and displayed a level of emotion she has come to know isn’t helpful. That maturation has played a key role in Noland’s ability to sign a scholarship to play softball at Division II Alabama-Huntsville.
Noland’s growth also enabled her to have two stellar performances last week to help Pickens Academy win the Alabama Independent School Association Region 2 title. In a 12-0 victory against Wilcox Academy, Noland hit two home runs. She followed that effort up with a complete-game two-hitter in a 2-0 victory against Clarke Prep.
For her accomplishments, Noland is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“You can’t get frustrated,” Noland said. “When you get frustrated nothing is going to go your way because you’re just trying to throw harder, and when you’re trying to throw harder, it is just going to go slower because you’re trying so hard.”
Noland’s 2-for-4 showing in the first game added to a ledger that has her hitting .641 with 11 home runs and 12 doubles. In the circle, Noland has teamed with Shelby Lowe to form one of the state’s most dominating tandems. Against Clarke Prep, Noland struck out eight and walked none.
Pickens Academy (24-4) will rely on Noland and Lowe later this week when it travels to Montgomery, Alabama, to participate in the AISA Class AA State tournament at Lagoon Park. Pickens Academy, which was the runner-up last season to Macon East Academy, will take on Coosa Valley at noon Friday in its first game in the two-day, eight-team event.
Noland has been a fixture for the Lady Pirates for the last several years. She credits a growth spurt in the summer of her sixth-grade year for helping her transform from a “tiny” pitcher — she thinks she was about 4-foot-3 — into one who controls games in the circles.
“I knew there was a change because I was actually getting stuff behind the ball and I could actually get it to the plate,” Noland said. “(Before that) I was struggling. I had to do a lot of drills to help me get it to the plate, and I didn’t have any pitches at all. I was just throwing, mostly with my arm.”
Still, Noland, who is now 5-5, said she had additional growing to do because she said her emotions sometimes would get the better of her. She said she has talked with her father and with Goodman to find ways to conceal her thoughts and feelings and remain as focused as possible when she is in the circle. Noland has forged that attitude on the travel-ball circuit as a member of the High Intensity Softball organization and at Pickens Academy. This season, she is calling her pitches working with classmate Abigail Colvin.
“I can get mad easily, but I can’t let it show on my face,” Noland said. “That is one thing I have been working on.”
Goodman has tried to give his players a bigger voice in the games. He said Noland has evolved as a player and continues to set the example for the Lady Pirates.
“Everything she threw wasn’t working that day, but she fought through it,” Goodman said. “Those were the only earned runs they had in the game, and no, she wouldn’t have been handle it (earlier in her career). She might have been able to handle it last year, but years before, no. She wouldn’t have handled it with a smile. She would have been very frustrated.”
Noland offered another smile as she recounted the game against Edgewood Academy. The smile she showed Tuesday was much more positive and proved she has become quite adept at working herself out of trouble and finding a way to channel her emotions. That’s a good sign for Pickens Academy, which will try to add a fast-pitch softball title to the girls basketball state championship it won earlier this year. Noland was a member of that squad, too, so she is looking forward to another chance to add to the Lady Pirates’ list of achievements. She will take advantage of the opportunity with the maturity of a senior who has learned how to overcome the ups and downs that can unnerve pitchers.
“Nothing is going to take the home runs away, so you have just got to shake it off,” Noland said. “I probably would have broken down (if she allowed three home runs in a row as a freshman).”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino in Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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