Katelynn Carwile picked OK State softball at 13. Six years later, she's a blossoming star headed to NCAA Super Regional.

STILLWATER, Okla. — Katelynn Carwile had made her college decision. She was ready to call coach Kenny Gajewski and commit to the Oklahoma State softball program. 

But first, her father, Kevin, brought her spiraling back to reality.

“That’s great,” Kevin said, “but you gotta call all these other coaches and tell them what your decision is.”

Wait, call the coaches she wasn’t going to play for and tell them she hadn’t chosen their program? 

Katelynn was terrified — which is understandable. 

She was only 13 years old.

“Hey, you’re making a grown-up decision,” Kevin told her. “You owe respect to these other coaches.”

So one late January evening in her eighth-grade year, Katelynn settled in for a worrisome string of phone calls to college softball coaches, telling them she wouldn’t be coming to their school. Among those on the call list was OU’s Patty Gasso, whose stadium is a 14-minute drive from the Carwiles’ Purcell home. 

But Katelynn’s agony over the phone calls was quickly put to rest when Gasso and the other coaches offered nothing but acceptance and support. 

“And after those phone calls, she got to call Kenny,” Kevin said. “I don’t know who was happier, Kenny or us.”

Katelynn had only begun receiving college attention during the fall season of 2015 when she started playing travel ball with Gametime Stars. Having previously played with a smaller organization, the move to a bigger club brought instant recognition of her talent. 

Coaches began reaching out almost immediately after her first road trip with Gametime to a showcase camp in Kansas, where she stunned with her hitting and pitching ability.

After just a few months, she had already made up her mind on OSU.

But how, one might wonder, does a 13-year-old come to such a life-impacting decision so quickly and so certainly?

“It was one of those things, like, when you know, you know,” Katelynn said. “I had really good conversations with Coach G. and I knew this was the place I was gonna come to, where I could help build the program into something amazing.”

Six years and four months after her initial commitment, Katelynn has emerged as a vital piece of the lineup for the seventh-seeded Cowgirls, who are set to host 10th-seeded Clemson in a best-of-three Super Regional with a berth in the Women’s College World Series on the line. 

Action begins with an 8:30 p.m. first pitch Thursday at Cowgirl Stadium, and you can expect Katelynn to be in the spot she has called her own over the last 43 games, playing right field. 

‘A hitter who could pitch’

Kevin Carwile has a bucket. 

Most any parent of a softball pitcher has one because squatting in a catcher’s stance is too painful.

Kevin’s bucket has been tucked away in his shop for a couple years now, but like an old friend, he’s not letting it go. His bucket has a camouflage nylon sleeve that slides over the top and holds the padded seat cushion in place.

Perfect for the long hours and countless pitches caught while sitting on it.

“It got to the point when Katelynn started to actually throw pretty hard, I really debated getting catcher’s gear,” Kevin said. “Not the quickest reflexes and to this day, I’ve still got bruises on my shins.”

A gifted lefty, Katelynn had a 1.03 earned-run average as a senior at Purcell High — a stat almost as impressive as her .574 batting average that season. 

When she signed with the Cowgirls in the fall of 2019, the program touted her dual-threat abilities.

And though playing time was sparse her freshman season of 2021, Katelynn practiced everything — pitching, hitting, fielding. She played in 14 games last year, getting 11 at-bats and throwing 1 ⅔ innings, earning a save.

But at season’s end, Gajewski approached her with a different option.

“The pitching — it was gonna be difficult for her here,” Gajewski said. “When we really got her here and we started looking at everything we had, we started looking at her as a No. 3 or 4, and that didn’t really make her happy. But we knew that she could hit.

“We talked to her about, ‘Hey, what do you think about just giving the pitching up and putting everything into the hitter basket and see what that does?’”

Katelynn ultimately decided it was a good plan, though it took some convincing — mostly for her father.

“I was probably the last one to accept the decision,” said Kevin, his wife, Amy, laughing at his brutal honesty. “I was always the dad pushing her. Let’s go pitch. Let’s get better. Let’s get stronger. 

“I was in complete denial. But it came down to it and what do we gotta do to get on the field? And pitching was what she gave up.”

For Katelynn, the decision came down to focusing on who she truly was.

Was she a pitcher who could hit, or a hitter who could pitch?

“A hitter who could pitch,” she said. “Coming in, I loved pitching, but I always knew that hitting was my thing. So when we had the talk, and it was like, what do you want to do? I was like, you know what, hitting is it for me. 

“So I took that and just ran with it, and I’m happy I did.”

Last summer, with her new solitary focus, Katelynn decided to live in Stillwater and take a couple of classes, which also gave her the opportunity to be in the batting cage every day. 

“Every day I was here, she was here, hitting,” Gajewski said. “It’s been really cool.”

Batting fifth, playing right field…

Immediately after their daughter committed to OSU in January of 2016, Kevin and Amy Carwile bought Cowgirl softball season tickets, because that’s their core belief: you do what you can to support your team. 

They attended as many games as they could, though Katelynn’s high school pursuits kept her busy. In addition to travel softball in the spring, she ran on the high school track team for two years and played tennis for one. 

But as soon as Katelynn got to OSU, the schedules came together. Kevin has been to every game that fit into his work schedule and Amy hasn’t missed one yet — even when Katelynn was hardly playing. 

So on Feb. 27, Amy was in the stands for Texas A&M’s Reveille Classic in College Station, Texas, to see the Cowgirls play four games from Feb. 25-27. 

For the final game of the trip, Amy settled into her seat, hoping Katelynn might get another pinch-hitting appearance, as she had in 10 of the previous 13 games. 

“They were listing who was in the starting lineup and they said her name,” Amy said. “I was like, did I hear that right? Then she went out and took the field.”

Amy immediately texted Kevin, “Katelynn just got her first start.”

“I still have a screenshot of that text on my phone,” Kevin said.

With some veteran players struggling at the plate, Gajewski decided he needed to try something new. 

Katelynn has since started every game in right field for the Cowgirls — 43 straight in all.

For her first start, Katelynn batted fifth, though she’s since risen up the order thanks to her fast start and consistent performance. 

“I was trying to work as hard as I could to get a spot in the lineup and keep working hard to stay in it,” she said.

It’s one thing to play well in early March. Mid-May is a different story. But so far, the moment has yet to be too big for Katelynn. 

Over three games in last week’s Stillwater Regional, she was 4-for-8 with three RBIs, two doubles and a monster home run that hit off the top of the scoreboard in right field. 

For the season, the left-handed-hitting sophomore has the team’s best batting average at .361, most doubles with 13, second-most runs batted in with 33 and second-highest slugging percentage at .592.

And if the Cowgirls are going to get through the Super Regional this week, they’ll likely need more production from their blossoming star.

“She’s a fierce competitor,” Gajewski said. “She’s really improved. And she’s still got a ways to go. I think she’s a kid that can really hit. She’s figuring things out. She’s learning how people are pitching her now that it’s a little different than what it was. 

“She’s adjusting and doing some good things. It’s cool to see the evolution.”