East Surry's Hayley Shelton stands with her third consecutive 1A state finals MVP award Saturday.
Five titles over the past 15 years have established the Cards as the winningest program in the state during that time.
One of the main reasons? Dominant pitching.
After Saturday’s 5-0 defeat of Swain County, graduating senior Hayley Shelton firmly took her place atop the long list of Cardinal hurlers as perhaps the best ever.
Shelton finished Saturday’s third consecutive title triumph without giving up a single run in three games and was voted the tournament’s most valuable player, her third such award in as many seasons.
While East Surry coach Derrick Hill acknowledged he’s had a string of top notch talent, most notably pitchers, as far as his most recent ace being the best he’s ever coached, he said Shelton’s numbers speak for themselves.
“I think if you look at what she’s done and the three MVP’s and the career wins and strikeouts and ERA and all that good stuff, it’d be hard to argue with that,” he said.
In three varsity seasons Shelton is 53-7 overall, has a career total of 761 strikeouts, (291 in 2010 and 302 in 2009) and has a jaw-dropping career earned run average of 0.36 — all tops in school history.
Her 302 strikeouts in 2009 is the 13th best season in North Carolina history and her 29 strikeouts in last season’s 14-inning 1-0 loss to Swain County in the state finals (her only 1A loss ever) is the third highest single game strikeout total. Not to mention that her sub-1.00 career ERA is good enough for fifth all-time.
Hill said while Shelton is just one in a long line, without her, the Cards three-straight titles are an uncertainty.
“It’s been a tradition at our place that we pretty much always have outstanding pitching and there is no secret that’s the key to the game,” Hill said. “If you’ve got good pitching and good defense you can be competitive with any classification. Even though we came out on the short end of the stick a couple times she has kept us in any ballgame she ever pitched.”
Of course, like any unassuming star, Shelton said she was flattered with her third MVP award but that nothing ever comes down to just one player.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “But I depend on my team, so it’s not really on me. People give me credit and they don’t realize that I couldn’t do it with just me and the catcher out there. It’s exciting to get praise but deep down I know without a team I couldn’t do it.”
But while Shelton is a quiet individual around the ball park, there is no doubt she takes on a leadership role. Hill said the best example of her excelling as a leader is that ability to stay grounded and know one person cannot win alone.
“A lot of the times I think our kids genuinely understand that,” Hill said of the team mentality. “I think sometimes you hear that and it’s the politically correct thing to say, but I think one of our strengths as a coaching staff and a program is that we try to instill that in them from the time they get there. We’ve told more than one kid over the years that if they don’t want to buy into the team concept then they can take their bat and ball in the backyard by themselves and see what they can accomplish. I think by the time they get to be juniors and seniors they all understand that. We had 15 kids and they can’t be on the field at the same time but I think all 15 played a part in what we accomplished this year. Some had bigger roles than others but you don’t get to the point we got to without it. The fact that Hayley tells you that about her MVP award tells me she understands that.”
Shelton credits her father, Scott, and mother, Michelle, for helping instill the drive to improve which has allowed her to be successful.
Her father is the only pitching coach Shelton has ever worked with, and the soon-to-be high school grad said without him she wouldn’t be in the position she is today.
While waiting to be awarded the state title trophy Saturday in Raleigh, Shelton broke down in tears, and said afterwards it was because she saw her father and the emotion he displayed after all the hard work had paid off in the end.
“He just taught me everything from books and videos, so everything I learned is from him,” she said. “He’s never been the type to show his emotions, but I guess since I am graduating and leaving he was emotional. He realizes that I’m leaving and I won’t be able to pitch with him every day. I think it was in a good way. It made me happy he was happy because he’s worked so hard with me and put more time into it than me probably.”
Ask any person associated with baseball or softball and you might hear composure, killer instinct and maybe most importantly, a drive to succeed, are intangible qualities a pitcher must possess to be great.
Hill said he thinks Shelton has all those qualities.
“At some point as an athlete you have to realize you are pretty good at what you’re doing,” Hill said. “I don’t know how many perfect games she had while she was here but she was never satisfied with giving up no hits. She’d say, ‘But I walked two.’ She would point that out herself before we said anything. I think that drove her to try to do better. No pitcher is ever going to go out every time they pitch and not have that happen to them. That’s what stands out most. More times than not when she got in trouble she was able to bare down and to focus a little harder and get out of it. That’s what makes a good pitcher. Anybody can throw the ball but the ones that are successful have that mindset.”
Shelton said she never thinks her game is at its peak and luckily for her new handlers at Marist next season, they are getting a true warrior who embodies what has become the “East Surry way.”
“I always feel like I can do something to improve no matter what it is, like making pitches work better, or my attitude, anything,” Shelton said. “I always feel like there is something more out there I can achieve or get better at.”
Contact Thomas Smith at tsmith@mtairynews.com or 719-1920.
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