Megan Claypoole wrapped up a stellar high school softball career just over 11 months ago.
But she’s not finished playing.
The Fleming County graduate posted a successful regular season with the University of Pikeville softball team, and she and the Bears are preparing for a first round Mid-South Conference Tournament game against Georgetown College on Friday.
“Coming into the season we knew we were going to be good team. We were really young. We had a lot of freshmen and sophomores. We have a couple of upperclassmen, but not that many,” said Claypoole. “We came in and tried to figure it out, and we were able to come together and break a lot of records this year.”
Pikeville entered the final day of the regular season with 25 wins and two games left against Kentucky Christian University. Claypoole homered to lead off the fourth inning in the first game of the doubleheader to give the Bears a 2-1 lead they wouldn’t give up as they claimed the single-season school record for wins.
For Claypoole, the homer was number four on the season – the most on the team. She’s accumulated a .301 average this year with 23 RBIs and 28 runs scored.
“I’d say I really got comfortable a couple of weeks into the season,” said Claypoole. “At first I was very nervous. I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t know what was expected of me.”
While she says it took a couple of weeks to get comfortable, her stats say otherwise.
The Bears opened the season with a doubleheader at Alice Lloyd College and came away with a pair of wins. In the first game, a 7-0 victory, Claypoole singled twice and walked twice, driving in a run and scoring a run of her own. In the second game, she went 2-for-2 with her first collegiate home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. She also entered the circle for the first time and pitched a no-hitter as Pikeville came away with a 17-0 victory in five innings.
“Hitting-wise, the pitchers are a lot better. You don’t really face any pitchers that aren’t good,” said Claypoole. “You have to hit the movement pitches and hit it where it’s pitched. You have to focus on your mechanics and what to change to hit the pitcher you’re facing that day.”
The 5-foot-3 freshman starred in the circle at Fleming County. Her senior year, she was 24th in the state with a 2.02 ERA, 20th in wins with a 17-6 record and was third in strikeouts with 297, only behind Pulaski County’s Krystin Wilson (324) and East Carter’s Montana Fouts (448).
She’s split time in the circle this year, mainly with sophomore Hannah Skaggs. Claypoole’s pitched 126 innings and posted a 12-9 record for a team that went just 18-32 a season ago. She’s pitched 10 complete games and struck out 126 batters.
“You’re fighting to keep a spot and stay in the starting lineup. Pitching-wise I had to step my game up. The batting is a lot better,” said Claypoole. “You’ve got to hit your spots, hit each location if you want to be successful in circle.”
Skaggs, who helped Magoffin County to the 15th Region championship game as a senior in 2016, has pitched 151.2 innings, the most on the team. The two are the second duo in program history to win at least 10 games each.
“Coming into the season, I already knew Hannah. That was a good relationship to have,” said Claypoole. “I like having another pitcher to split time with. It’s somebody to put in if needed, somebody to be supportive.”
It also gave her a chance to get back in the field, where she’s been playing second base when not pitching. Despite getting time away from the circle, she doesn’t feel as if it’s taken the pressure off of other facets of the game, like hitting and fielding.
“I’m so used to hitting and pitching, so I have the same mentality,” said Claypoole. “Being able to play second reminded me how much I love to play the field. It showed me I still love to play the field when I’m not pitching.”
The Bears’ regular season concluded last Sunday with the doubleheader at Kentucky Christian, and on Thursday morning they started the trek to Michael O. Buchanon Park in Bowling Green for the eight-team, double-elimination Mid-South Conference Tournament.
Pikeville earned a No. 6 seed with a 10-14 conference record, and will take on No. 3 Georgetown (30-15, 16-10) when 12:30 p.m. hits in Bowling Green. The two teams played doubleheaders last week, with the Bears sweeping on Friday and the Tigers coming away with the Saturday sweep.
Claypoole has experience in the postseason – Fleming County won four 61st District championships in the six years she was on the varsity roster – and she’s hoping for another positive playoff experience starting Friday, but knows anything can happen at this point in the season.
“Even at high school level, teams are completely different at tournament time and you just don’t know. We did have success in the 61st District and I’m hoping to come into the conference tournament and be very successful in that,” said Claypoole. “Hopefully we’ll break more records, go in and play well and advance as far as we can.”
A win against Georgetown would set up a 5:30 p.m. game against the winner of the first round game between No. 2 Lindsey Wilson (37-12, 17-7) and No. 7 University of the Cumberlands (16-32, 9-19) at 5:30 p.m. The two losing teams from each first round game would meet in an elimination game, also scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
