University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana UnLimited: Karly Heath
4/11/2023 4:07:00 PM | Softball, Louisiana UnLimited
This story is based off Karly Heath's conversation with Jay Walker on Ragin' Cajun Connection, the official podcast of Louisiana Athletics. You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Since she's one of the few softball players in the country that can legitimately make the choice, it's a fair question. Game-winning home run or a no-hitter?
Karly Heath didn't hesitate.
"Definitely the home run," said UL's senior two-way threat. "A no-hitter feels good, but the game-winner's on the top of my list."
The game-winning homer or bringing down a big-point buck? That's a more difficult question, since the South Carolina native's been pursuing both of those for most of her soon-to-be 23 years on Earth.
"I killed my first doe when I was eight," Heath said. "That's all I do when I go home for Christmas break. As soon as I get home, I'm in the deer stand with my dad."
That is, if the two aren't out playing golf along with her younger sister Caroline, a freshman member of the golf team at Limestone University in Gaffney, S.C. That shouldn't be a surprise since their North Augusta hometown is just across the Savannah River from Augusta, Ga. One could almost string together Karly's nine home runs this season and it might reach the famed Augusta National layout where the world's most famous tournament, The Masters, is held annually.
"My dad played golf at college at USC Aiken (located less than 20 miles from North Augusta)," she said. "During the summer and the offseason I go out and play with them. I really love it, that's been a big part of what we do from being so close to Augusta National. My sister started out in softball and moved over to golf, and it's a good thing that I can do at home and go out and play with her."
If you get the idea that the 5-foot-10 fifth-year senior is a lot more than the No. 7 she wears for the Ragin' Cajun softball team that's ranked No. 10 on this week's NCAA RPI listing, you're right. She's at home in a boat with her father -- a professional bass fisherman – or back home at a "low country boil" (which isn't that different from the Acadiana area's famed crawfish boils), or listening to country music, although she's much better than most of her generation at singing lyrics from the '70s and '80s.
"You travel with my dad and that's all you listen to," she laughed.
She logged many a mile with her parents since around the first grade when she was playing T-ball and then machine-pitch baseball with the boys. She made the switch to softball at her dad's insistence when she was seven, and has never wavered from the game in the 16 years since.
"It's really a part of who I am," Heath said. "I loved it from the start, how competitive it is. I always had fun with it."
Heath's dedication to and talents in the game showed early. She committed to play collegiately at South Carolina, only an hour away from home, when she was a freshman in high school. She wanted to play in the SEC and play close to home so her grandparents could watch her play. And she was successful with the Gamecocks – a 15-0 pitching record in her two years there in 2019 and 2020, and a .315 batting average in 44 games and 21 starts with five homers as a freshman.
But one-third of the way through the 2020 season, COVID shut down all of collegiate athletics.
"Once COVID hit and I got the extra year, I decided I wanted a chance to go win a national championship," she said. "When I got in the portal, coach (Gerry) Glasco called me, and we talked on the phone for three hours. I never had a coach talk to me for three hours on the phone … we talked softball, hunting, fishing, so many things. I knew when I got off the phone that this was a program I wanted to be part of."
Glasco was already a familiar name, both from travel ball and from his time at the University of Georgia, whose football team is a near-religion in the Heath family (mom and dad attended Georgia's two national-championship games over the past two years).
The connection has been good for both. After hitting .278 with eight homers as a sophomore transfer in 2021, her offensive numbers took off last season when she was a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference and All-Louisiana selection at designated player. She hit .314 and slugged at a .771 mark with 13 home runs, the most for any Cajun since the offensive-minded Glasco took over as UL head coach, and she did all that offensive damage in less than 100 at-bats.
This year has been even better, and not just because her hitting numbers are again impressive. Going into this week's slate where the Cajuns travel to Baylor and Texas A&M before a pivotal Sun Belt series against Texas State, Heath carries a .385 batting average with 11 homers, 30 RBI, a .802 slugging mark, only eight strikeouts and 12 stolen bases in 96 at-bats.
This season, she's become much more a presence in the circle, much like she was in her early collegiate years at South Carolina. As part of a pitching staff that's as deep as any in the country – Glasco and pitching coach Justin Robichaux don't hesitate to use any of five different arms in clutch situations – she's become much more of a factor with a 3-0 record in five starts, a 2.15 ERA in 10 appearances, two shutouts and 31 strikeouts in 26 innings. Opponents are hitting only .156 against her this year. She no-hit Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and recorded wins over Southern Mississippi and Appalachian State in Sun Belt play.
In the circle, Heath also holds the distinction of never being stuck with a loss. Her pitching record is now 18-0 at USC and UL combined, after her win over App State one week ago. "That's just crazy to never lose a college game," she said.
"I kind of have the same mind-set pitching or hitting," she said. "On the mound I'm that person that's going to go and get you, and at the late it's the same thing, it's come and get me, I'm going to hit you. It does give me a lot of confidence when I get a text from coach Glasco or coach Justin telling me I have the ball today and to go out there and attack, come and get it, if you hit it, congrats to you."
That confidence level comes in part from working with Robichaux, who was a two-way player as a pitcher and first baseman for the Cajun baseball team under his father, legendary coach Tony Robichaux.
"When he came over, we connected automatically last year," Heath said. "Since we both pitched and we both hit, that's helped our connection grow a lot more. He's got me to where I never thought I could be."
That connection was likely helped by both being all about family. Along with his father's record-setting career that was cut short by his untimely death in 2019, Robichaux's younger brother Austin also pitched for UL and spent time in professional baseball. Heath's family ties are just as strong, as evidenced by last year's trip to the Clemson Regional.
"The first thing I did was call my grandparents and tell them I'm coming home," she said of last year's postseason. "I told them we were playing in Clemson and I want all of y'all to be there. It sucked that we lost there (UL reached the regional final before losing to the hosts after beating Auburn and UNC Wilmington), but playing in front of my grandparents meant a lot to me."
That family will reunite April 28-30 when the Cajuns play their final Sun Belt road series at Coastal Carolina, about a three-hour drive from North Augusta, and one week before Heath closes her UL home career at Senior Weekend May 4-6 against ULM.
"My whole family's pretty much coming … aunts, cousins, everyone," she said. "It's posted on Facebook so I know a bunch are coming. And both sets of grandparents are coming down here for Senior Weekend."
Heath will finish her degree this spring, but she'll be around the Cajun program for at least one more year. She's applied to work on her MBA degree (she's a two-time All-Sun Belt Academic selection) and plans to be a graduate assistant on the UL staff while finishing her master's degree.
It's a long way from her first trip to Louisiana, when the alligators that live in Cypress Lake behind the Student Union were a source of wonder.
"That was different and cool," she said. "I didn't really have any expectation of what this place was like, but it's like home now. My parents come down pretty often. They don't love crawfish like I do now, though."
Since she's one of the few softball players in the country that can legitimately make the choice, it's a fair question. Game-winning home run or a no-hitter?
Karly Heath didn't hesitate.
"Definitely the home run," said UL's senior two-way threat. "A no-hitter feels good, but the game-winner's on the top of my list."
The game-winning homer or bringing down a big-point buck? That's a more difficult question, since the South Carolina native's been pursuing both of those for most of her soon-to-be 23 years on Earth.
"I killed my first doe when I was eight," Heath said. "That's all I do when I go home for Christmas break. As soon as I get home, I'm in the deer stand with my dad."
That is, if the two aren't out playing golf along with her younger sister Caroline, a freshman member of the golf team at Limestone University in Gaffney, S.C. That shouldn't be a surprise since their North Augusta hometown is just across the Savannah River from Augusta, Ga. One could almost string together Karly's nine home runs this season and it might reach the famed Augusta National layout where the world's most famous tournament, The Masters, is held annually.
"My dad played golf at college at USC Aiken (located less than 20 miles from North Augusta)," she said. "During the summer and the offseason I go out and play with them. I really love it, that's been a big part of what we do from being so close to Augusta National. My sister started out in softball and moved over to golf, and it's a good thing that I can do at home and go out and play with her."
If you get the idea that the 5-foot-10 fifth-year senior is a lot more than the No. 7 she wears for the Ragin' Cajun softball team that's ranked No. 10 on this week's NCAA RPI listing, you're right. She's at home in a boat with her father -- a professional bass fisherman – or back home at a "low country boil" (which isn't that different from the Acadiana area's famed crawfish boils), or listening to country music, although she's much better than most of her generation at singing lyrics from the '70s and '80s.
"You travel with my dad and that's all you listen to," she laughed.
She logged many a mile with her parents since around the first grade when she was playing T-ball and then machine-pitch baseball with the boys. She made the switch to softball at her dad's insistence when she was seven, and has never wavered from the game in the 16 years since.
"It's really a part of who I am," Heath said. "I loved it from the start, how competitive it is. I always had fun with it."
Heath's dedication to and talents in the game showed early. She committed to play collegiately at South Carolina, only an hour away from home, when she was a freshman in high school. She wanted to play in the SEC and play close to home so her grandparents could watch her play. And she was successful with the Gamecocks – a 15-0 pitching record in her two years there in 2019 and 2020, and a .315 batting average in 44 games and 21 starts with five homers as a freshman.
But one-third of the way through the 2020 season, COVID shut down all of collegiate athletics.
"Once COVID hit and I got the extra year, I decided I wanted a chance to go win a national championship," she said. "When I got in the portal, coach (Gerry) Glasco called me, and we talked on the phone for three hours. I never had a coach talk to me for three hours on the phone … we talked softball, hunting, fishing, so many things. I knew when I got off the phone that this was a program I wanted to be part of."
Glasco was already a familiar name, both from travel ball and from his time at the University of Georgia, whose football team is a near-religion in the Heath family (mom and dad attended Georgia's two national-championship games over the past two years).
The connection has been good for both. After hitting .278 with eight homers as a sophomore transfer in 2021, her offensive numbers took off last season when she was a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference and All-Louisiana selection at designated player. She hit .314 and slugged at a .771 mark with 13 home runs, the most for any Cajun since the offensive-minded Glasco took over as UL head coach, and she did all that offensive damage in less than 100 at-bats.
This year has been even better, and not just because her hitting numbers are again impressive. Going into this week's slate where the Cajuns travel to Baylor and Texas A&M before a pivotal Sun Belt series against Texas State, Heath carries a .385 batting average with 11 homers, 30 RBI, a .802 slugging mark, only eight strikeouts and 12 stolen bases in 96 at-bats.
This season, she's become much more a presence in the circle, much like she was in her early collegiate years at South Carolina. As part of a pitching staff that's as deep as any in the country – Glasco and pitching coach Justin Robichaux don't hesitate to use any of five different arms in clutch situations – she's become much more of a factor with a 3-0 record in five starts, a 2.15 ERA in 10 appearances, two shutouts and 31 strikeouts in 26 innings. Opponents are hitting only .156 against her this year. She no-hit Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and recorded wins over Southern Mississippi and Appalachian State in Sun Belt play.
In the circle, Heath also holds the distinction of never being stuck with a loss. Her pitching record is now 18-0 at USC and UL combined, after her win over App State one week ago. "That's just crazy to never lose a college game," she said.
"I kind of have the same mind-set pitching or hitting," she said. "On the mound I'm that person that's going to go and get you, and at the late it's the same thing, it's come and get me, I'm going to hit you. It does give me a lot of confidence when I get a text from coach Glasco or coach Justin telling me I have the ball today and to go out there and attack, come and get it, if you hit it, congrats to you."
That confidence level comes in part from working with Robichaux, who was a two-way player as a pitcher and first baseman for the Cajun baseball team under his father, legendary coach Tony Robichaux.
"When he came over, we connected automatically last year," Heath said. "Since we both pitched and we both hit, that's helped our connection grow a lot more. He's got me to where I never thought I could be."
That connection was likely helped by both being all about family. Along with his father's record-setting career that was cut short by his untimely death in 2019, Robichaux's younger brother Austin also pitched for UL and spent time in professional baseball. Heath's family ties are just as strong, as evidenced by last year's trip to the Clemson Regional.
"The first thing I did was call my grandparents and tell them I'm coming home," she said of last year's postseason. "I told them we were playing in Clemson and I want all of y'all to be there. It sucked that we lost there (UL reached the regional final before losing to the hosts after beating Auburn and UNC Wilmington), but playing in front of my grandparents meant a lot to me."
That family will reunite April 28-30 when the Cajuns play their final Sun Belt road series at Coastal Carolina, about a three-hour drive from North Augusta, and one week before Heath closes her UL home career at Senior Weekend May 4-6 against ULM.
"My whole family's pretty much coming … aunts, cousins, everyone," she said. "It's posted on Facebook so I know a bunch are coming. And both sets of grandparents are coming down here for Senior Weekend."
Heath will finish her degree this spring, but she'll be around the Cajun program for at least one more year. She's applied to work on her MBA degree (she's a two-time All-Sun Belt Academic selection) and plans to be a graduate assistant on the UL staff while finishing her master's degree.
It's a long way from her first trip to Louisiana, when the alligators that live in Cypress Lake behind the Student Union were a source of wonder.
"That was different and cool," she said. "I didn't really have any expectation of what this place was like, but it's like home now. My parents come down pretty often. They don't love crawfish like I do now, though."
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P/OF
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