After watching college softball on TV as a kid, Emily Cole wanted that to be her someday.
On Thursday, she got one step closer to doing so.
The Lewis County senior standout signed her letter of intent with Marshall University in front of family, teammates, coaches and friends for her signing ceremony.
She’s now an official member of a Division I program and will one day get that chance to be playing on TV.
“I’m just grateful for this opportunity. When I was little I played to have fun. Then I just started seeing softball on TV. I’m like, ‘Oh, that would be really cool to do.’ So I started to work harder to get that goal. So it’s a really, really big deal to me, I’m really excited for it,” Cole said.
With her ability in the circle and at the plate, Cole had her choice of schools to pick from to play at the next level. Marshall just stood out.
“The campus is beautiful. They have a lot of good medical programs that I’m very interested in and the coaches are super nice. I couldn’t be happier with them. The softball field, the softball program is really good there. So that was a perfect fit,” Cole said.
While Cole’s presence on the field means a ton to the back-to-back 16th Region champs, what she does off the field and in the offseason could mean even more, evidenced by all her teammates being there on Thursday. Much like what she does on a daily basis whether in offseason workouts or during the season, Cole led by example once again.
“I’ve got a lot of young talent that is sitting in those seats out here today looking at her and saying, ‘I want that to be me.’ But they see how hard that she works. I mean, this is a kid, right now we’re in November and it’s open field and no one’s required to come. It’s not mandatory to come right now. But this kid doesn’t miss. She is always there and she sets that tone for these younger kids that could possibly have potential to sit in that seat one day,” Lewis County coach Chad Case said. “She sets the tone for this program.”
Cole’s numbers are off the charts as she’ll enter her final season with the Lady Lions in the spring. She’s recorded over 1,000 strikeouts in the circle, one of only 24 in KHSAA fast pitch history to hit that mark. Since her eighth grade season, Cole has a 72-20 record, has struck out 939 batters compared to just 181 walks, posted sub-1 ERA’s in her last two seasons and started 93 games over her last three seasons. Cole’s 431 strikeouts last season were the most in the state by 51 and ninth most ever in KHSAA history.
She’s also improved at the plate each season, hitting .531 last year with seven home runs, 14 doubles and 41 RBI.
“Not only does she go out and pitch like she does, but she’s almost a .600 hitter. And we played a very, very tough schedule. So we played really good competition and a kid comes out and hits nearly .600 is just unbelievable. It’s exciting not only what you’re seeing out there and throwing 13, 14, 15 strikeouts a game, but then come in and go 3-for-4 or 2-for-3 every time she steps on the field,” Case said.
And Cole isn’t done yet, the Lady Lions will look to 3-peat in the region and head back to Lexington as they’ll try and battle for the ultimate prize…a state championship.
“I feel like softball brings together our community, so being able to be part of the championship teams the past two years is really special. I’d really like to bring that region championship trophy back to Vanceburg next year and hopefully make it pretty far in state,” Cole said.
Cole gives a lot of credit to her father Marty, who also happens to be her pitching coach. Marty dedicated to building a garage on their property where Cole can pitch and fine tune her craft. All that work, all the soft toss, all the pitching has paid off.
“I can’t thank my dad enough. I mean, he’s done everything for me. He’s never steered me wrong. So he helped me a lot when I was little just doing the fundamentals and then he’d take me to pitching lessons. He drove me to hitting lessons last night. I’m just so thankful for him to be in my life,” Cole said.
Thursday was a big day for Cole and the Lewis County community. Hours later, she was most likely back on the softball field enjoying one last day of the warm weather for the year and working toward the next goal, a 3-peat for the Lady Lions.
Cole is now a member of a select club – she is one of only nine Lewis County student-athletes since 1956 to sign an NCAA Division I scholarship. The others: the late Ralph Davis, basketball, University of Cincinnati, 1956; Eddie Scott, basketball, Morehead State University, 1970; Corky Prater, football, Eastern Kentucky, 1975; Mort Bertram, golf, University of Kentucky, 1975; Andy Plummer, golf, Austin Peay State University, 1985; Billy Howell, basketball, Morehead State University, 1999, Tanner Barton, track and field, University of Louisville, 2014; and Logan Liles, golf, Morehead State University, 2022.
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