RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
When you know, you know.
Despite having 25 calls, texts and emails from schools in every Power 5 Conference and, literally, from coast to coast, on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020 (the first day of the Contact Period for current juniors), Karlyn Pickens, the 6-foot-1 right-handed pitcher/first baseman from Asheville, North Carolina, always had a dream school in mind.
Still, her plan was to go through the recruiting process, taking her time and doing her homework.
“Yea, that was definitely my game plan,” she told Extra Inning Softball today, “I wanted to take all the calls, see what everyone had to offer, narrow it down to a Top 5 and go from there.”
But in her first official call with the Tennessee Vols coaching staff—including Ralph and Karen Weekly and Assistant Coach Megan Rhodes Smith—plus a special guest in the Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Karlyn pulled the trigger and committed.
The Tennessee staff was the first to contact Karlyn around midnight Tuesday, albeit through texts from the trio of coaches, and that was to set up a Zoom call at 12:30 pm ET—one of seven she would ultimately have that day.
“On the Zoom call,” the dynamic pitcher explains, “they told me what they were going to offer and I immediately fell in love! I kind of said ‘Yes’ then, but I wanted to be respectful to all the coaches so I told them (Tennessee) I would call them back later that night.”
Karlyn then proceeded to call 15 college coaches she had talked to earlier to tell them about her Vols commitment and texted several others.
“It was a hard thing to do but I owed them that respect.”
The call back to the UT staff was much more enjoyable, naturally.
“When I called them back, I asked if they hold #23 (her jersey number) for me!”
The North Carolina star admits Tennessee had “always been my dream school, it’s in my back yard about two hours away, I’ve been to camps there and Monica Abbott is a big role model.”
So why commit now?
“I think it was the coaching staff, they’re amazing,” Karlyn says, “and the family atmosphere and city, I felt like I really fit in there, and it was where I was supposed to be.”
What’s next?
“My coach (Dana Fusetti) asked for the workout for Tennessee’s pitchers and I’ll start doing that,” she finished. “It’s time to start working and to never stop grinding!”
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
Here’s a look at the player feature we did on Karlyn two months ago giving more insight into her background…
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Player Spotlight: 2022 Extra Elite 100 Pitcher Karlyn Pickens… a Special Talent with a “Special Heart”
Originally published July 7, 2020 on Extra Inning Softball
When we published the updated 2022 Extra Elite 100 in April, one name that wasn’t as familiar to many club softball fans was that of right-handed pitcher/first baseman Karlyn Pickens who plays for Carolina Elite 16U National – Fusetti team.
A top 10 ranked-player, the 6-foot-1 athlete is not a stranger to Power 5 programs, however, as she has interest from all over the nation—from Top 25-ranked SEC powers in the East to elite Pac-12 programs in the West.
Karlyn plays for the SC Elite-Fusetti 16U team and at one game last fall had close to 60 coaches scouting her (pre-COVID-19, of course!). Coach Dana Fusetti can’t say enough about her star pitcher.
“She is one of the most unique players that I ever been blessed to coach.” Fusetti says. “She’s hard working, goofy and just plain fun to be around on and off the field. ‘K’ is a kid that just loves the game and loves to see her teammates succeed. She has exhibited great speed, movement and command on the mound and being a standout athlete in basketball and volleyball as well, Karlyn excels with her mobility, speed, power, strength and conditioning while maintaining a 4.028 GPA with honors classes.”
Karlyn has dominated the high school sports scene in three sports. On June 1, the Asheville Citizen-Times recognized Karlyn as the “Division I Female Athlete of the Year Award” after she was selected as Western Mountain All-Conference in basketball, All-Conference and League Player of the Year in softball and honorable mention All-Conference in volleyball.
Her high school stats this season before the abrupt ending due to COVID-19 included impressive numbers from the then-freshman: a 3-0 record with 19 innings pitched and 40 strikeouts with an .800 batting average on eight hits, nine RBIs and five home runs.
Karlyn also reached a milestone this season as she was clocked several times at 71 mph and consistently hit 67-69 mph on the radar gun. She has worked with pitching coach Stacey Johnson Whitfield, a former South Carolina Gamecock pitcher, since she was nine-years-old and has frequently made the 70 mph leaderboard at her lessons.
“Karlyn has worked hard to gain speed on her fastball and spin on her rise ball and off-speed riseball – a favorite of mine!” Fusetti exclaims. “She also keeps her changeup in the arsenal. In travel ball, her highest strikeout game for me was 13.”
The tall right-hander, who also plays first base, has a fun sense of humor and was accused of being the “ringleader” in getting Coach Fusetti an interesting hair change a year ago. We’ll let Karlyn explain…
“This is a good one!” she begins, savoring the memory of what she’s about to share.
“We were playing in JO cup last summer and I believe we were down two runs or something like that. Our catcher at the time, Shelby Barbee, was up to bat and before she got in the box Coach Dana yells, ‘If you hit it out on the first pitch you can dye my hair two colors!’ As you can guess she hit it out on the first pitch!”
“That next inning, I was pitching and I had two strikes on their 4-hole batter when Dana yells, ‘If you strike her out on this pitch you get two more colors!’ One rise ball later and that was the last time Coach Dana made a bet with us!”
Taking it all good-naturedly, Fusetti adds: “To describe this athlete in a nutshell, she’s a fun-loving, humble, God-fearing, incredibly talented girl that works hard on every aspect of the game to be that teammate you can count on. Team is the most important to her, not her own individual success. This girl never stops and has an amazing work ethic. I absolutely love how she gives God the credit for blessing her with enormous talent. She exhibits this every time in the games by giving credit to her team and coaches. Karlyn is an athlete that doesn’t crave the spotlight.”
Before the recruiting rules changed in April of 2018, the three-sports star was able to enjoy time with college softball coaches on unofficial visits and took trips to Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Liberty, and Auburn. She had SEC and other major conference offers; however, she wasn’t ready to commit early.
“I’m very excited for this girl when September 1 comes (this fall)—the first day colleges can contact her,” Fusetti states. “It’s going to be a fun day for her. When I asked her what her plan was for that day, Karlyn said, ‘Just enjoy the experience.’”
Fun-loving though she may be, she is serious about her faith and her family.
“I give God all the glory and I thank him for everything that he has allowed me to accomplish in my life,” Karlyn says humbly. “My faith influences me to be humble and kind to everyone. A verse that I like to live by when playing is Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” I love this verse because although softball can be stressful at times, I know that God has a path for me.”
As for her family, Fusetti says her biggest fans are her parents, Phillip and Rebecca Pickens.
“From a coach’s view they are incredible, they never get on her if she falls short of succeeding,” the coach explains. “ Instead they allow the coaches to do their job and they build her up for her next matchup. She started playing at age 6 and over the years her biggest influence has been her dad who has spent countless hours catching her, pitching to her and icing afterwards.”
Karlyn adds: “My dad has been a huge role model for my softball journey, he has supported me my whole life and pushed me to be where I am today. He still catches me to this day and I don’t think he will be giving that up anytime soon. He loves helping me when it comes to hitting and fielding and has learned quite a bit about pitching over the years too! He does so much for our family and I couldn’t be more thankful for him and everything he does for me to shape me into who I am.”
At age 16, the softball standout is the youngest of three: she has two older brothers, Kolton, who is 28 and ran cross country in high school, and Rayce, who is 18 and played football and baseball. Her siblings are tall too at 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-2, respectively, so it’s easy to see where Karlyn gets it (her parents are both 6-foot, she says).
Kolton is in the aviation regiment unit at Fort Hood, Texas and has been an influence as the “big brother” in several ways.
“I’m so thankful for him and he inspires me to be the best person I can be. He’s always been so proud of my accomplishments and I am so proud of him as well for joining the Army knowing how different it would be.”
Not that it’s always been easy: some of the difficult Army experiences Kolton has seen and experienced have motivated Karlyn and her mother to start a non-profit called See the Light: With Courage to help educate those in the military about mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
“Our mission is to reach out to soldiers in the military who are struggling with their mental health,” the athlete explains. “We are creating a pamphlet that will contain inspirational quotes and scripture that may help what they are going through.”
A heart-breaking tragedy spurred the idea.
“A big reason me and my mom are passionate about this is because, while we were in Colorado playing softball, we got a call from Kolton explaining that he just witnessed someone (in the military) jump to their death right in front of him. My mom was mortified and I had to go play a softball game shortly after hearing this news. This sparked the idea of our pamphlet which will hopefully help active duty soldiers.”
A 4.0 student, a stellar athlete, a kind-hearted role model and an active member of her faith and community, there’s not much Karlyn hasn’t accomplished in her young 16 years. Summarizing her special talent, Coach Dana describes the 2022 grad in words that apply on and off the field.
“Karlyn is a 6-foot-1 powerhouse who has the tools every college coach desires in an athlete. She also has a special heart.”
*** Scroll down to read more about Karlyn including our Q&A with her covering what colleges she’s visited, which ones she likes and the one thing she really doesn’t like!