Thomas Sumter's Carter shows power, poise on way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

The Thomas Sumter softball team is out to a hot start in their first season of varsity action since 2019. One of the biggest reasons is Kason Carter.

Carter has been an ace in the circle all season long, but last week, she brought her thunder stick to the plate, smacking three home runs in two games. Add in 25 strikeouts in the circle, and Carter was able to earn Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week honors.

"It felt pretty good. I've had some great support," Carter said of the recognition.

Carter was able to break out of a little bit of a slump for a huge week at the dish. She went 4-5 with three home runs and a double. She scored five times and drove in seven runs across two games. Head coach David Porter felt like she was putting some extra pressure on herself in the cleanup spot, so he moved the eighth-grader up in the order and got immediate results.

"She was getting kinda frustrated, so we moved her up, and we were kinda talking about bunting runners over until she got her swing back, but her first at bat against Florence Christian, she roped a double into left," Porter said. "I kinda knew then that her swing was back. The next two times, she hit it out of the ballpark."

On top of seeing the ball a bit better last week, Carter said the support from her teammates drove her success.

"It was just my teammates pumping me up and having everyone in the stands cheering me on," she said.

In the circle, Carter has been an ace. She pitched 12 innings last week, striking out 25 batters. She allowed just three hits and three earned runs. Her performance in the circle has been a huge blessing for a team still adjusting to varsity softball.

"We know as long as we have her in the circle, we have a chance," Porter said. "It's huge. We're very young, very inexperienced, so we're still trying to find ourselves. We're probably the only school in the state of South Carolina that didn't have any varsity experience at all. To have someone that you can count on in the circle who is always going to be around the plate is huge for our program."

Carter said her approach on the rubber is pretty simple.

"I just focus on the catcher," she said.

But it wasn't always easy last week. The Lady Generals suffered a 7-6 loss to Ben Lippen on Thursday on the back of nine errors that led to five unearned runs. Carter tried to stay positive even through the bumps in the road.

"I just had to stay focused and make sure all the girls are positive," she said.

While the Lady Generals lost the game, Porter thought the loss showed the strides Carter has made since she was playing JV last season.

"A lot of times last season, when something like that would happen, she would give up a couple of hits or we'd make a couple of errors, she would get a little deflated, and it would take a couple of batters to get back into her groove," Porter said. "This year, she's right back into it; she's not letting it get her down. She's coming right back and fighting hard. I was really proud of the way she pitched because Ben Lippen hit the ball a lot, they put the ball in play, they fouled a lot of pitches off, which she hasn't seen in her first couple of games this year, but the way she was able to stay focused and continue to hit her spots and continue to get us out of trouble really kept us in the game. It could've gotten ugly, but she gave us a chance to win it in the end."

Carter is trying to make the most out of her first varsity season, but this is only the beginning for her and the Lady Generals.

"It's been pretty amazing. I have more competition, and I'm seeing the ball better. It's more like what it's going to be like in college," Carter said. "We just want to focus on the mental and physical parts of the game, knowing we're cheering each other on."