IN FULL CONTROL
Spalding’s Amaya Carroll dominated in the circle — and offensively — to be named area’s best
When pitching coach Carly Martin got her hands on Amaya Carroll the winter before her junior season, she didn’t know what to do with her. Most trainees she’d get were blank canvases. With Carroll, she’d been handed a nearly completed masterpiece.
But as dominant a pitcher as Carroll already was, she had goals beyond sustaining excellency. The Archbishop Spalding ace wanted her desired school, UMBC, to take her seriously as a pitcher instead of just a hitter, regardless of how good she was in that regard, too. She wanted to throw softball banners onto her school walls.
And just like her many strikeouts, Carroll completely hit the target.
The 2022 Capital Gazette softball Player of the Year led her Cavaliers to their third Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference crown in three years. She stamped her 107 ⅓ innings with 215 strikeouts and a 0.59 ERA against not only tough IAAM A Conference competition, but the best teams from Anne Arundel County and neighboring states.
Never one to let others do the work for her, the UMBC commit also ended her senior year as her team’s offensive leader in batting average (.429), slugging (.746), home runs (4) and RBIs (23).
“I’m very proud of myself. I didn’t expect any of it,” Carroll said. “My freshman year, I didn’t expect to come back from an injury and lead my team to a championship, and knowing I led everybody there [to three] just feels amazing knowing the legacy I left for all the sophomores and freshmen to carry on for future years.”
Very quickly after taking Carroll under her tutelage, Martin watched her influence spread like rays to other area pitchers. They watch videos of Carroll pitching and, the next time Martin sees them, they’ve adopted Carroll’s body language on the mound.
“Girls come and watch her because of the way she pitches. ‘How does she stay so controlled? How does she hit that speed?’ ” Martin recalled. “Amaya has such a great control of her pitches and that’s a hard thing to teach.”
It’s something Carroll always seemed to have. When she took to the mound in the 2019 championship game, she did so with limited experience, freshly recovered from an injury, just to pitch Spalding to a title. Confidence accompanied Carroll in every game she played. Though Carroll rarely had games where she lost control, you’d never know it from looking at her.
Only once did she let her expression slip — the last outs of her third championship win last month. Tears rolled down her face while Carroll delivered threestraight strikeouts to deliver the title win.
Her confidence flowed through to her teammates, too. If the team needed to have someone sit down and talk with a player, they turned to Carroll. The senior
“My freshman year, I didn’t expect to come back from an injury and lead my team to a championship, and knowing I led everybody there [to three] just feels amazing knowing the legacy I left ...” — Amaya Carroll
also led the organization of the team’s mental health night during the season.
“She definitely has everyone’s respect, but she doesn’t demand it,” Spalding coach Delaney Bell said. “She doesn’t say, ‘Hey, look at me, listen to me.’ In everything she does, she earns people’s respect as she goes. I think that is her biggest strength.”
Carroll’s confidence never strayed into arrogance. Carroll genuinely expected opposing hitters in her conference to catch onto her patterns and outhit her one day, but they never did.
There’s a relief that comes with knowing the central figure of your top competitor’s success is leaving. John Carroll softball coach Sherry Hudson had plenty of chances to build that appreciation over multiple meetings with Carroll, including two championship games.
“She can bring velocity. She can spin the ball. She could pretty much put the ball anywhere. She could back you off the plate and then go outside with it,” Hudson said. “She was always in control. She set the tone of that team.”
All of those skills Carroll achieved after pouring endless training through summer and winter before her final year. She put an emphasis on sharpening her speed, as well as her famous rise ball.
Opposing teams prepared for Carroll’s rise ball because they knew she had one. With Carroll, the ball moved like a balloon catching air, making it difficult for batters to read. This spring, unlike the past, Carroll’s rise ball didn’t drift too high. She’d worked to keep her rise ball low enough to work, and she did.
“That said, Amaya has a great drop ball, once she realizes the hitters are catching onto her rise,” Martin said. “She has a slew of other pitches she can go to.”
Carroll’s reliance on that arsenal comes back to trust in herself. But regardless of her stoicism through three years, Carroll did embark on a confidence journey. She knew she was a timid freshman, regardless of how bold her pitching was.
Much of that was mental for Carroll. As a younger player, she would fall into slumps, but not this year. She stumbled once the entire season, a loss to Chesapeake. She turned around and played four more games in three days, winning all but one. In the seven following games, she only allowed six runs total.
“I definitely grew as the years went on, gaining more confidence with my play, which helped with
All-County first team Jayda Betts, Spalding, sophomore, left fielder
The quick-footed leadoff batter led her champion Cavaliers in hits (29), steals (10) and runs (24). She was second behind Carroll with a .414 average. Betts also had seven doubles and 18 RBIs.
Caitlyn Cornwell, Northeast, junior, center fielder
The Maryland-bound Eagle swiped 39 bases this spring while also single-handedly scoring 37% of all Northeast runs this spring (169). The lead-off hitter collected a .563 batting average and an OPS of 1.397.
Marley Connor, Crofton, freshman, third baseman-pitcher
The freshman batted .484 with a .580 on-base percentage and 34 RBIs, 11 doubles, two triples and three homers. Connor was 6-0 in the circle as a starting pitcher.
Brianna Ford, South River, senior, pitcher
Ford finished with a 3.10 ERA and 17-4 mark, totaling 113 strikeouts, allowing 32 walks and 57 earned runs while limiting opposing batters to a .277 average. At the plate, the senior hit .493 with 39 hits, six doubles, a triple, two home runs, 30 runs scored and 26 RBIs.
Sam Larkin, Chesapeake, junior, first baseman
The Hood College commit tallied a .571 batting average and .632 on-base percentage, totaling 20 RBIs, 28 hits, four doubles, two triples, two homers and six stolen
bases in 17 games.
Ali Pollack, Chesapeake, senior, third baseman
Pollack hit a whopping 10 home runs on the spring — just one short of the school record. Her batting average skyrocketed to .574, boosted by 26 runs on 31 hits as well as 35 RBIs. She held down third base sustaining a .941 fielding percentage.
Gracelyn Solarz, South River, senior, shortstop
The Seahawks’ leadoff hitter maintained a high .609 batting average on the spring, contributing to her numbers with 59 hits, 11 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 40 runs scored and 27 RBIs.
Emma Sullivan, North County, junior, shortstop
Sullivan batted .536 with 30 hits and 12 RBIs. She slugged .732 and had a .684 OBP. She struck out only once. In the field, she transitioned from center field to shortstop and collected a .902 fielding percentage.
Sally Trent, Severna Park, sophomore, catcher
Trent amassed 109 putouts from behind the plate and caught 12 runners stealing with just one error. The sophomore hit .553, had a .583 on-base percentage and 1.039 slugging with 42 hits, 11 doubles and eight home runs, as well as 34 RBIs.
Kendall Thomas, Chesapeake, senior, pitcher
Thomas had a 0.75 ERA and 15-1 record while limiting players to 18
Alana Watts, Chesapeake, sophomore, left field
Watts led her team in on-base percentage (.729) and batting average (.639) from the leadoff spot. She collected 23 hits, 10 RBIs, four home runs, five doubles and three triples while stealing seven bases.
Sierra Williams, Arundel, senior, utility
Williams batted .475 with a .535 on-base percentage and .712 slugging percentage. She posted team highs in RBIs (21) and doubles (11) and hit a home run this spring.
Kristin White, Crofton, junior, pitcher
White splashed onto the scene, totaling 134 strikeouts in 82 innings. White went a perfect 8-0, allowing 48 hits, 36 runs — 18 earned — 28 walks and a .147 opposing batting average while maintaining a 1.54 ERA.