How North Buncombe softball's Sadie Jo Hunter is following path of Lady Vols' Karlyn Pickens
WEAVERVILLE – Sadie Jo Hunter usually knows if she’ll have a good day when she’s warming up. The tell is simple – if her catcher is angry, the stuff is moving just right.
The North Buncombe pitcher’s 0.58 earned run average is the best mark for a freshman in the state and eighth-best overall. She’s striking out nearly two batters per inning – 100 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched.
In other words, Hunter has a good day every time she pitches.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m in a different world (when I pitch),” Hunter said. “I don’t know where I’m at, but if somebody yells at me, I’ll focus.”
Hunter is confounding opposing offenses. She’s struck out 12 or more batters in five of her past six appearances, including a high of 19 strikeouts in a win over Roberson on April 16. In the other game, she struck out nine.
Those big games aren’t just coming against lower competition.
Take her performance against Enka, a 1-0 win that saw her fashion the best outing of her young career. She spun a gem, striking out 17 while leaving one of the area’s best teams clueless at the plate. Her pitching allowed the Black Hawks to stay in the game for eight innings before walking it off.
In two games against McDowell, which sits second in the Mountain Athletic Conference, Hunter was just as good. She struck out 23 batters combined, including 14 in a 1-0 win Thursday.
“I’m calling pitches, so she made my job easy,” North Buncombe coach David Griffin said. “When she’s on fire, she makes my job pretty easy. She’s hitting her spots and throwing like she is, it’s a lot of fun to watch.”
Griffin and Hunter have a good relationship, which allows Hunter to shake off calls Griffin makes. She opted for a new pitch several times against Roberson, which she said sometimes is based on how a batter is standing, something Griffin can’t see.
“It’s if it’s been working,” Hunter said. “If it’s not been working in the game, I’ll shake it off when (Griffin) calls it again. If it just got hit, I might shake it off.”
Her offensive output hasn’t been far behind. She’s batting .500 through 13 games and has hit two home runs and four doubles. She considers herself a power hitter, adding she has to hit it hard because she's a slow runner.
It’s taken a lot of work for Hunter to get to her current level. On the weekends, she’ll come to the high school two or three times to practice and work on her pitches.
By virtue of pitching at North Buncombe, Hunter gets access to a vital source of support – former North Buncombe star and current Tennessee Lady Vols pitcher Karlyn Pickens.
Pickens led the Black Hawks to the 2022 state championship with an ERA of 0.20 and 402 strikeouts. Through 24 games in her sophomore season with the Lady Vols, Pickens has a 1.19 ERA and has struck out 149 batters.
Hunter would come to games to watch Pickens while she was at North Buncombe. Now, when she comes home from Tennessee, Pickens will give Hunter advice.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Hunter said. “Somebody we went to school with, you can watch on TV at Tennessee.”
Hunter said she and Pickens share a tranquility in the circle, allowing them to stay cool in the biggest moments. Griffin, who was at North Buncombe when Pickens was, said both of them specialize in the riseball.
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Hunter is following in the footsteps of one of the school’s greatest athletes, but for now, the freshman is just focusing on the next pitch.
“I give her advice,” Griffin said. “Stay focused, that’s a lot of it with her. But she’s very focused when she goes out there.”
Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: How North Buncombe softball freshman Sadie Jo Hunter is making splash
