Softball player breaks records

Gardner-Webb Softball team takes on NC State in a double header, winning the first game and falling to the Wolf Pack in the second game in Boiling Springs.

By Sthefany Flores

A Gardner-Webb University freshman softball player has broken the university’s home run record and is the current leader in the Big South Conference with 23 home runs.

 

Katie Prebble broke the single-season home run record at GWU on March 10 with 13 home runs to her name in the match against Campbell University—this record has not been broken since 2007.

 

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed by the Big South Conference; she has been recognized as the player of the week once and has been named the freshman of the week five times this season.

 

Prebble is the first baseman for her team but this was not always the position she played. The Maryland native was a pitcher until her freshman year in high school. She explained that she had to make a change after she was hurt playing the position. “I gave myself scoliosis from pitching,” she said. “It was the biggest injury that I gave myself.”

 

The difference in strength between her pitching arm and her left arm was so great that it moved her spine. Despite the injury she decided that it was best to move on to other positions and as a result her condition has gotten much better.

 

Although the player has been nominated many times by the Big South Conference, she would not have known if she was not informed of by her friends. While some players have superstitions about their lucky shirts or meals, one of Prebble’s traditions is not looking at her statistics.

 

When she was first nominated as the player of the week on Feb. 19 she said “I couldn’t really believe it.”

 

“I am always really tough on myself and always think [of] what I could have done better and because of that I never thought I would be nominated by the Big South,” she continued.

 

After all of her success so far this season she believes that her accolades are owed to her coaches and her teammates.

 

“I’m so blessed to have my teammates and coaches who are there for us 24/7,” she said. “My teammates work so hard, some of them come in hours early to practice and others leave later than they have to.”

 

Prebble said that they are not just a team, but a family and they have come to an agreement that what they have something special and will do all they can to stay together for the coming seasons.

 

Click here for the softball schedule and updates on the team.