06/05/2025
I've had a few more thoughts since I published this on my personal page.
Some put down the term "utility player" in softball as someone not quite good enough to be steady at one position.
When, in fact, it is exactly the opposite. It is someone who plays EVERY position at a very high level.
You might say, a Swiss army knife. Which is what one of the scouting combines has called her.
Only two fielding errors this season while playing three different positions, best on the team.
Not just that. Torie is a vocal leader, which every good team needs, regardless of sport.
Can't wait to see what the future brings.
So without any further ado:
"The One About The Girl On Fire": Torie Nobles
I have a relatively late starting point for this one, the fall of 2023. Junior high volleyball.
With Lilly Downs already setting things ablaze as the libero on the senior high level, one wondered who the junior high would come up with.
It turned out to be another redhead, and it didn't take long before she was in command of that back row.
Saves? Already many to speak of.
Then basketball. She started it on the bench but before long was in the starting lineup. Not much scoring yet, but already finding her way with assists, finishing second on the team.
After a season of travel softball, it was back to the volleyball floor. Once again she showed out. More saves and better ones. If you showed her saves and digs side by side with Lilly's, there wasn't much of a difference.
In the end she dug 74%, served a few aces and got some kills as well. Now, 74% is very good at any level.
And back to basketball where this time she had command of the team from the start. She still had the assists going on but was now scoring more, and discouraged opponents with tough defense.
She finished second in scoring and assists, led in steals and was, incredibly, third in rebounds. And blocked 8 shots, too.
We all know that that improvement was due to hard work. In all aspects.
Now it was softball season. And as a ninth grader, she could play senior high ball, and was immediately in the starting lineup.
She pitched. Then we had a need in right field. She answered the call. Did she ever.
A couple of spectacular catches, and handled the routine things well. You get the picture.
And hitting? Especially in the second half of the season, she delivered clutch hits, sacrifice bunts, moved runners over. And eventually started picking up RBIs herself after moving to the six hole.
In the last half of the season there was nobody better batting and nobody better in the field than Red. In the last 11 games she hit .500. And she only had 2 errors and struck out just 5 times.
Absolutely on fire those last few weeks.
And as it turned out, those were her last weeks as a LadyCat. For next year she is moving on to Johnson County Westside. Hey, who wouldn't jump at a chance to play for a team her step-dad coaches?
That team was on the rise this past season and
they are going to be so much better now. And not just because she's going there.
It's a little like what happened in 2017 with Jadyn Hart, but the difference is that we got to see what she could do on the field for us at least for one season.
And it was brilliant.
She'll certainly be missed here, but Rebel fans, you're in for a treat.
Thanks, Torie. Continue to be brilliant and see where it takes you.
