Meet the SJ-R's Large School Softball Player of the Year for 2023: Claire Black
There’s a certain quality that coaches love above all others. Chatham Glenwood softball coach said Claire Black had that in abundance.
“She likes to win,” Edgar said. “She’s that kid: those are the types of kids you want to coach.”
En route to winning — which the Titans did plenty of during Black’s three seasons — the senior third baseman was on base constantly, hit for power, drove in runs and provided Glenwood with a sure-handed presence at the hot corner. Black also served as a true leader for a team with several underclassmen.
“She was a lot of fun to watch — and coach,” Edgar said of The State Journal-Register's Large School Softball Player of the Year.
A hitting display
Black didn’t suffer through too many slumps during her career and she carried an incredible .587 batting average (54-for-92) as a senior. It was a massive leap from her .418 (38-for-91) the year before.
“Every day at practice, we go through the same routine and coach Edgar has helped me with my mentality at the plate an exceptional amount,” Black said. “I come into every single at-bat with confidence that I’m going to hit the ball and I try to swing hard and hit it as hard as I can.
“At some point when you’re down to two strikes, that’s when I’m just trying to get on and I take a step back in the box, choke up on the back and I’m just trying to make contact with the ball.”
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She also drove in 54 runs, hit 15 doubles and had five home runs. She would’ve tied the single-season record for doubles if not for freshman teammate Ryleigh Kiel, who set the bar with 19 doubles.
“She just hits ropes,” Edgar said. “She’s 5-foot-10 maybe. Just her physical presence — big, strong, athletic — the way she’d go about things, I’m sure (opponents) recognized her as far as how she went about things.
“Strong is an understatement.”
Black’s .587 average is also fourth-best for a season at Glenwood, behind Kiel’s .604, Parker Bandy hit .607 in 2015 and Niki Mitts’ .638 in 1995.
“She consistently barreled balls up,” Edgar said. “Even when she wasn’t hitting home runs, she was hitting balls in the gaps, hitting the other way, pull: she had (the plate) covered.
Black’s 54 RBIs are tied for second, five behind her sister, 2020 graduate Maya Black, who had 59 in 2018.
"You have to go in with confidence every single time that you’re going to get a hit and find a way to get on base,” Black said. “Going in with that has helped me a lot as a player. I was lucky enough to get on base 50% of the time but that means I was getting out 50% of the time.”
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Black was also a relief pitcher for the Titans with a 6-1 record, a 0.26 ERA in 27 innings pitched and struck out 48 against just seven walks.
Leadership traits, too
Black gave the Titans another element.
“Even more than the numbers, which show in the results, the leadership she showed was phenomenal,” Edgar said. “She worked hard every day, she worked hard in the offseason — from the time we got beat her junior season until we got beat this year, her work ethic was phenomenal. That sets the tone (for the entire team).”
After a win over Springfield High in mid-May secured the undefeated Central State Eight Conference championship, Edgar spoke at length to his players about things he noticed which, if they emerge at the wrong time, could prematurely end the team’s playoff hopes.
Black then implored her teammates to re-focus for the final stretch.
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“No. 1, she’s a great kid,” Edgar said. “She loves people, she loves being a teammate, she loves being on a team (and) being a part of those relationships. I think she understood as we went how much kids looked to her. She wasn’t verbal all the time … but when she spoke, I think everybody knew she had something to say, something she observed or something she wanted to change.”
When asked if coaching is in her future — first, she’s studying medicine and playing softball at Parkland College — she was taken off guard.
“I’ve never really thought about it,” Black said with a laugh. “I think it would be fun.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Claire Black hit for average while having plenty of pop for Glenwood softball
