All-America?
“I was kind of speechless,” Calhoun admitted. “I didn’t know what to say. I was like, ‘Oh.’ It caught me completely off guard.”
The numbers were worthy. The Talawanda High School graduate went 28-5 with a 1.33 earned run average, racking up 261 strikeouts in 210.2 innings. She paced NCAA Division II in shutouts with 19.
The All-America honors were impressive. She was named first team by Daktronics, Inc./Division II Collegiate Commissioners Association. She was named second team by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and Capital One (academic).
“I’m very blessed to be here,” said Calhoun, who established a single-season Gulf South Conference record with four no-hitters and was selected as the GSC Pitcher of the Year.
“We lost our starting pitcher from last year, so someone had to step up. Coach (Tom Macera) put that on me, and thankfully I did what I was expected to do.”
Valdosta, located about 225 miles southeast of Atlanta, was the top-ranked D-II squad for part of the season.
The Blazers finished 48-9 and were bounced from the NCAA South Regional after going 2-2. They were 12th in the final NFCA poll.
“We expected to go a lot farther, but we ran into a team that was really hot,” said Calhoun, with Valdosta losing to Shorter (Ga.) twice in the regional.
“Honestly, the season was just amazing. Once we got going in the spring, we all clicked. It just worked wonderfully.”
One person not surprised by Calhoun’s run of success is Christina Beckett, her coach at Talawanda.
“It’s an honor to know that I had some part of that,” Beckett said. “I knew the first time I saw her pitch that she was something special. She had the drive. She was the girl who was going to go out and get it.
“I’ve watched a lot of her games online, and she still has that same drive and determination in her eyes. I’m glad to see she’s finally getting what she deserves.
“She’s a great person to coach. Always positive. Always a team player. She’s very humble, which is hard to beat sometimes in today’s world. I don’t think she realizes sometimes how much of a leader she really is.”
It was a breakout season that Calhoun had been building up to. She was 12-4 with a 2.33 ERA in 32 appearances during her first two years at Valdosta.
Calhoun didn’t commit to the Blazers until after her graduation from Talawanda in 2012. She was planning to attend Division III Centre College.
“They don’t offer softball scholarships at Centre, so there was no signing. The coach understood if I found somewhere else, I could go there,” Calhoun said.
Macera watched her pitch at a high-level Atlanta tournament that summer and told her to call him if she was interested in coming to Valdosta. She made the call.
Calhoun has increased her velocity to about 65 miles per hour, but she said changing speeds is more important at the collegiate level.
“We don’t throw fastballs,” Calhoun said. “The fastball is one of the easiest pitches to hit. Hitters just sit back on it, so our coach won’t call it.”
Her repertoire includes a rise, a drop, a curve, a screwball and a changeup. She said her offspeed stuff needs to improve.
“My go-to pitch was a rise. It was really responsible for getting a lot of my strikeouts,” Calhoun said. “But when they were laying off the rise, I didn’t really have another pitch to get ’em to guess, so my coach told me I really need to work on my changeup.”
She issued just 28 walks in 2015. Opponents hit .149 against her.
The Blazers are losing just two seniors, so Calhoun has high hopes for next season. She said she needs to be in better shape to deal with the grind.
“I think I got a little tired by the end of the season. Actually, I got a lot tired,” Calhoun said. “I think that’s the most I’ve ever pitched in my life. I need to get stronger and keep my legs under me the whole season.”
She’s attending classes and working out with her teammates this summer at Valdosta.
Calhoun wants to be a teacher. She is on track to graduate next spring with a degree in special education.
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