A lot can change in the mind of a teenager over the course of a year.
At the end of her junior softball season at Franklin, Rilee King didn’t feel as though she wanted to put in the time required to play the game at a high level in college. She gave a verbal commitment to play at Reinhardt University in Georgia, an NAIA school where she could enjoy a relatively stress-free experience.
Her summer season with the Lids Indiana Dreams travel team, though, got her feeling a little more ambitious.
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“This last summer we got pretty competitive,” King said, “and I decided that I wanted to keep being really competitive with it.”
Seven of her club teammates that are graduating this year are headed off to play at Division I colleges, and King hopes she has what it takes to join them. First, she’ll play two years at Chattanooga State Community College, which will give her another chance to attract offers from bigger schools while also enjoying more of a regular college experience.
“I want to compete at a higher level,” King said, “but I want to be able to get in there and get the college feel before I give my time away.”
King has been the standard-bearer for the Franklin program recently. Last season, she led the Grizzly Cubs in nearly every offensive category, batting .430 with two homers and 20 runs batted in, while also shouldering the bulk of the pitching load.
She’ll have some of that burden lifted with the arrival of freshman hurler Izzy Harrison. Some seniors might bristle at the idea of giving up some innings to a newcomer, but King is excited about having some help.
“I’m super pumped for it,” she said with a smile. “My arm’s been tired, so I’m super excited; it’ll be good.”
Franklin coach Lisa Whitlow-Hill said that King might not be asked to do as much in the pitching circle, but she’s hopeful that the senior will be more of a vocal presence with the team.
“We’ll expect more, probably, on the leadership side, to kind of nurture Izzy and bring her along to the high school scene,” Whitlow-Hill said. “She’s always been a quiet leader, kind of, ‘If you do what I do, you’ll be good.’ She doesn’t vocalize a lot, but I think that’s there. She just hasn’t needed to use it yet.”
When she’s not pitching, King will likely spend most of her time playing in one of the corner infield spots; she played a good amount of first base last season, and Whitlow-Hill calls her “a beast” at third.
No matter which position she’s at, King seems more determined than ever to make the most of her final high school season and the college years that follow, both at Chattanooga State and beyond.
“I think the sky is the limit for her,” Whitlow-Hill said. “She’s worked this hard since she was 7, 8 years old, and she’ll continue to put in the work. If she wants to play (Division I), then she’ll put in whatever work is necessary to achieve that.
“Whatever she wants to do, she can do it.”
