‘She made everybody better’
Casey Dixon is a punch-out pitcher. With 439 strikeouts in 250 innings in the circle, to go with a 1.42 ERA, she made the game easier for her teammates and helped Willis reach the state tournament for the first time in school history.
“She put us on the map,” coach Stephanie Shelly said. “We’ve had teams that were good, but she took us to the next level and made us extremely competitive with every team. It didn’t matter what division we were playing — 5A, 6A, local teams, whatever — we were able to compete at a higher level, and it brought everybody else up as well. “She made everybody better.” Good genes — Dixon hails from an athletic family, with an aunt and uncle who played college basketball — and hard work made Dixon the best.
She capped her high school career by being named the Gatorade Texas Softball Player of the Year.
“There are so many other deserving players throughout the state, but I truly felt that she deserved it because of the type of person she is (and) the hard work she puts into her craft … so I was extremely pleased,” Shelly said.
For her efforts, the Louisiana-Lafayette signee is the Chronicle’s Pitcher of the Year.
Q: You started playing softball at 7 years old. Have you always pitched?
A: “When I was little, we weren’t allowed to pitch. But as soon as we were allowed to start pitching, that’s when I started doing it, because I’m super uncoordinated, so I’m not really good at anything else.”
Q: What’s the key to being a successful pitcher?
A: “You have to be strong-willed. You can’t let things affect you easily. That’s a big factor because as soon as you start letting things get in your head, it goes downhill from there.” Q: You had a great season at the plate,runs and too, 37 hitting RBIs. .372 What with do sevenyou enjoy home mostA: “Pitching,– pitching but or I hitting?love hitting, too, because on my select team I don’t get to hit. So whenever I was here (at Willis) I really tried to take advantage of that.”
Q: What will you remember most about your senior season?
A: “Getting to go to state with all my teammates. We got to do a lot of team bonding stuff, and that really helped us this year.”
Q: Was reaching the state tournament the driving force for you?
A: “Yes. We didn’t get to where we wanted to last year, so we were really pushing for it this year.”
Q: Did you feel like a state title was meant to be after handling Dripping Springs in the semifinals?
A: “Yeah, and I think that was our problem. We shouldn’t have thought that, and we didn’t (bring it home).”
Q: Do you have any regrets from the loss to The Colony in the 5A final?
A: “I don’t think we came out like we should have. On my part, I shouldn’t have walked those first two batters, but you can’t go back.”
Q: What was your reaction to winning the Gatorade award?
A: “I was super shocked. I wasn’t really expecting it because I don’t really know how the whole thing works, or how many people were nominated, but it’s super exciting. All my select teammates kept messing with me about it, like ‘Oh, sorry, we can’t be the Gatorade softball player of the year.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness.’”
Q: How much are you looking forward to playing in college?
A: “I’m so excited. I’ve had a countdown since it was at 200 days, and now it’s at 58, so I can actually remember it now, and I just got back from orientation, so that makes it even worse. I am so excited that it’s so close.”