Murphy – Annie Kate Dalton feels like she was put on this earth to play softball.
“I really believe that this was something that God wanted me to do, that this is the path that he’s set for me,” Dalton said after signing her National Letter of Intent to play collegiate softball at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Nov. 19. “He gave me the gift of softball, and I couldn’t be more thankful.”
Dalton, who had been recruited by and offered a scholarship by the UNC softball program since she was a freshman at Murphy, said that knowing she’ll be playing collegiate softball for a Power Five program is a feeling hard to explain.
“Honestly, it’s a feeling that I can’t explain,” Dalton said. “I’m so lucky to even have the opportunity to do this and I couldn’t be more grateful to be able to go and play softball at Carolina.”
Dalton gave credit to the Lady Bulldogs coaching staff, including head coach Thomas Nelson, for helping her turn into the softball player and woman that she is today.
“Coach Nelson has played a big role in making me not only the softball player that I am, but the person that I am,” Dalton said. “He’s been one of the best support systems I’ve had as a coach and helped me get through so much as a young woman and a softball player.”
The senior, who plans on kicking for the Murphy High School football team this season after sitting out last year, said that she hopes things will have calmed down by the time the spring comes along and that she will get the chance to take the softball field as a Lady Bulldog one last time.
“I’m hoping that everything will have calmed down by that time,” Dalton said of all the uncertainty about her senior softball season.
“I’m really sad that I didn’t get to play my junior year, especially with my friends who were seniors last year, and I just hope I’ll get the chance to take the field one last time for Murphy High School.”