The first time that freshman Carly Edmiston caught a pitch from DePaul recruit Kailey Selvage was during tryouts. And Shepard coach Bridget McDermott remembers it well.
“It was like, ‘All right, let’s see the freshman catching the senior,’ and that first pitch, she kind of like jerked back a little bit,” McDermott said of Edmiston. “That first one took her by surprise.
“But from there, she was able to figure it out and get used to it.”
That was evident Thursday. Edmiston made her second start behind the plate and Selvage struck out 18 for a 7-1 win over Tinley Park in a South Suburban Conference crossover in Palos Heights.
The left-handed-hitting Edmiston, who shares duties at catcher and third base on a game-by-game basis with Madison Scapardine, came up with a hit and three walks with two RBIs for the Astros (4-1, 1-0). Scapardine added three hits and scored two runs.
Leah Cruz led Tinley Park (3-3, 0-1) with two hits. The Titans scored their only run when Loyola commit Megan Piotrowski singled home Aubrey Spilde in the fourth inning in a game that was scheduled to take place in Tinley Park but was switched because the Titans’ fields were too wet.
Selvage, meanwhile, has the luxury of throwing to two quality catchers. She opened the season with a perfect game in a 7-0 win over Homewood-Flossmoor with Scapardine behind the plate.
But having a catcher three years younger than her is working out well, too.
“I’m sure that being a freshman up here can be scary,” Selvage said. “When we had our first practices in the offseason in the gym, we were like, ‘Who is this girl?’
“Just to see her come out and bring it right away is super cool. And as a freshman, it’s important because she’s only going to grow.”
Growing up in Alsip, Edmiston started playing the softball when she was 4 years old and vowed to be better than her sister. Emily, by the way, is 10 years older than Carly.
Carly attended Emily’s games at Shepard but wasn’t always watching her older sister.
“I would be playing around,” Carly said. “I didn’t pay attention.”
Despite the significant age gap, Carly said she learned a lot from Emily but doesn’t get to see her much anymore because her sister lives in South Carolina.
“We stay in contact,” Carly said. “She’s happy for me.”
The Astros also are happy with their red-hot start to the season, which included the aforementioned 7-0 victory over H-F and a nice 10-0 win over Providence.
Their only loss is a 4-0 setback to Andrew, with a big test coming up Monday against Marist.
Edmiston is having fun with the success, which comes on the heels of her playing with the Chicago Cheetahs 16U team and taking second in the nation at the USSSA Tournament in Florida.
Next up came the high school season, playing varsity and now occasionally catching Selvage.
“I went into that first game and I was scared,” Edmiston said. “I knew I would be catching a D-I commit. But right at the start of warming her up, I could tell we clicked as a pitcher-catcher duo.
“When we got in the game, it was going well.”
Edmiston took to being a left-handed hitter as soon as she started playing softball.
“I just went up to the plate and went to the lefty batter’s box,” she said. “I throw righty … I don’t know.”
She did bat right-handed once in her career, however.
“When I was 10, my coach told me to bat right-handed, so I did,” Edmiston said. “I did get a hit, but it was a terrible swing.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
