Seven years ago, if you had asked 6th grade Lacie Carr where she would attend high school, she would have proudly said Herrin High School. Carr would have been shocked to know that she would soon move to the Tigers in-county rival and attend the rest of her junior high and high school career in the Carterville. She would have been even more ecstatic to learn that within her years at Carterville, she would go on to win one SIJHSAA state championship, three IHSA regional championships, three SIRR River-to-River All-Conference acknowledgments, one all-state acknowledgment, and still counting.

These athletic accolades took work for Carr, and that work started from a young age. At age three, she found her love for softball when she would play whiffle ball in the yard with her parents.

She had so much fun playing with her parents that they decided to sign her up for tee ball. Once in tee ball, Carr knew she wanted to play softball. Her parents then allowed her to play rec-ball, where she started to separate herself from others.

She jumped to travel softball at the age of ten, where she was one of the youngest players on her travel team. Carr said, “I always played a year up and was always the youngest on the team. [while being the youngest], I think I was still up there [in terms of skill]. I felt like a baby and always doubted my potential because I compared myself to the older girls, but my skill helped me believe in myself.”

Travel softball is where Carr met some of her best friends, two of whom are Carterville seniors Maddie Rosenbery and Amayah Doyle.

“I played with Amayah on the Dirt Dogs, and we were basically just best friends, and Maddie, we were enemies because she played on the Aftershock and I played on the Dirt Dogs, but after we started talking, I realized she was really cool,” said Carr.

Carr thanked Rosenbery and Doyle for making her move to Carterville so easy and helping her transition to a new environment smoothly.

“When I moved to Carterville, they were my two best friends, and it was nice knowing that I would have them there and I was not going to a new school not knowing anyone.”

Carr made the move to Carterville because of their reputation for success. In the six years she has spent here, she has achieved the exactly what she came for. Carr’s freshman and sophomore year, she took on the hefty starting role in the circle, leading the Lions to two trips to the sectional final and two conference championships.

“Coming in my freshman year, taking the spot of our other pitcher who got hurt was really difficult, but it helped that I had a lot of good teammates to back me up. By my sophomore year, I had pitched in some big games and overcame many obstacles.”

Her junior year was slightly different due to a position switch; she was now focusing on first base instead of pitching. Despite the position change and a late-season injury to her knee, she still managed to help her team get to the sectional championship and even earn an all-state award.

Carr’s sophomore year is when she started thinking about playing softball in college: “At the beginning of my sophomore year, I had thought I wanted to play in college; I had been reaching out to tons of college coaches and didn’t really get a whole lot back.”

She then continued to play travel softball and tried to gain attention, but in the fall of her senior year, she changed her heart: “I did not want to play. I even quit travel softball because I thought there was no point if I did not want to play in college. I wanted to go an out-of-state school, really get the college experience, and focus on my grades.”

Thankfully, Southeastern Illinois head softball coach Maggie Calcaterra convinced Lacie to come to SIC.

“Maggie reached out to me along with one of my old travel coaches and said, ‘We still have a scholarship if you want it,’ and I committed because she already knew what I could do, and I knew I would regret not playing,” said Carr. She explained that she signed with SIC mainly because of the coach.

“I love her positivity, I love how she treats her players like friends and family, I really like the way she coaches and teaches.”

As Carr starts to gear up for her upcoming senior season, she says she’s excited to travel with her team and make new friendships with the freshman players. Now that you have gotten to know her, be sure to follow along with Lacie and the Carterville softball team season on Instagram and Twitter at @cartervilleath