Sophomore Finally Gets Chance TO Shine For LAdy Flames Softball

Most starting athletes don’t have to wait until their third year of college to play a full season. Kara Canetto, center fielder for Liberty’s softball team, is an exception. After tearing her ACL in her freshman year and watching COVID-19 snatch the 2020 season away from her, Canetto is determined to make up for lost time as a Lady Flame. 

Ever since watching her brother play travel baseball as a child, Canetto wanted to play softball. She began to fully demonstrate her skills in high school, being named to the A-A All-State team for Georgia in both her junior and senior years. She also maintained a .577 batting average her senior year of high school. 

Liberty was supposed to be a continuation of her stellar softball career. However, disaster struck Canetto’s freshman year when she tore her ACL during a game. This injury required her to end her season after playing 33 games. 

“It was definitely emotional,” Canetto said. “It was tough at some times. The coaches were there for me and they told me that everything was going to be okay, and it was. It was good to get out my sophomore year and see the field again.”

The injury required both surgery and rehab, which meant a year away from the sport she loved. But Canetto recovered from her injury and prepared to make her 2020 season a success.

“(Canetto’s) an overcomer and she has been doing a fantastic job,” Head Coach Dot Richardson said. 

The 2020 season looked promising for Canetto. In the season’s first 33 games, she managed 18 runs and a batting average of .394. But then that season also came to a screeching halt with the arrival of COVID-19.

With the frustrating end to the season, however, the NCAA announced an extra year of eligibility for student athletes whose seasons were impacted by COVID-19, meaning Canetto could register as a sophomore for the 2021 season. Canetto has faced obstacle after obstacle to play softball for Liberty, but as this season has progressed, she has loved the opportunity to finally take the field consistently. 

“I was really excited coming back because this is my first season coming back since being hurt,” Canetto said. “So, I’m just going out there giving my all because I’ve already lost a year or so – I don’t want to have to lose another one.”

Canetto currently has a batting average of .396. Through the first 30 games of the 2021 campaign, she registered 23 runs as well as a home run. Richardson praised her for her work ethic and dedication to the game. 

“Kara is a hard worker – she is determined. She’s a competitor,” Richardson said. “You can see that not just in the style of her play, but in her statistics as a player.”

Currently holding the highest batting average on the team, Canetto provides the boost necessary for the team to succeed in ASUN as well as postseason play. 

“She is just a joy to work with. Her love for the Lord, her passion for life, her passion for the game – (they) just exuberate from her,” Richardson said. “When you see her compete, she just focuses and zones in, and that’s just a competitor that you’d always want by your side. As a coach, that’s what you would want in the lineup.”

The Flames are 3-0 in ASUN competition with a 21-9 record on the season. Both coaching staff and players wholeheartedly believe that the team will not disappoint fans. 

“We feel really confident that we’re going to go out there and play our game,” Canetto said. “We’re not going to play up to competition or down to competition. We are going to play Liberty softball.”

The ASUN 2021 championship will also see changes because of COVID-19, according to Richardson. The teams have been broken up between two divisions, North and South. When postseason play begins, the No 1. seeds will play the No. 4 seeds and the No. 2 seeds will play the No. 3 seeds in a best-of-three series, with the four remaining teams in each division competing for the title. 

Making it through postseason will be the biggest challenge the Lady Flames have faced all season, but in an NCAA report released last week, the Lady Flames were listed at No. 11 in the NCAA RPI rankings out of every team in the country. 

“If our team plays to its full potential, it’s going to be a really fun ASUN competitive season,” Richardson said. 

The Lady Flames will next compete March 30 against Tennessee.

Christian Shields is a Copy Editor. View his portfolio on Facebook.