ALL-AREA SOFTBALL: Princeton's Wood named player-of-the-year

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on June 27, 2016 1:48 PM

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PRINCETON -- While her teammates celebrated their state 1-A softball championship on the short ride down Highway 70 back to campus, one teammate had a million thoughts racing through her head.

Hailey Wood had just played her last high school game.

The reality didn't sink in until she entered the locker room and removed the dirt- and sweat-stained jersey -- a symbol of her work ethic and dedication that helped placed Princeton among North Carolina's elite programs.

Her emotions flowed freely.

The state title eliminated a little bit of the sting.

"I was torn all to pieces knowing that when I got back to school, I'd take off that jersey and that would be the last time I put it on," Wood said. "It hit me then that I had played my last game. (But) it's a pretty good feeling knowing that something you've worked for for four years has finally paid off."

Wood, undoubtedly, played an integral role for the Bulldogs this season. She blossomed into one of the state's top pitchers and proved to be a tough out for opposing defenses to send back to the dugout once she dug her cleats into the batter's box.

Those traits landed Wood the 2016 News-Argus All-Area Softball Player-of-the-Year award.

On the opening day of practice, Wood -- and fellow seniors Kelsey Peedin and Taylor Carroll -- met with their teammates. They discussed the team goals, the plans to reach them and encouraged each other to remain focused in practice and on game days.

The once-reserved and quiet player as a freshman and sophomore, Wood understood her role and accepted the responsibility placed on her shoulders.

"It was my senior year, so I pretty much knew I had to carry the team on my back," she said. "I trusted my team. I knew if the ball got put in play, I had seven people behind me who could make the play. With the team having confidence in me, it helped me. Even if I was having a bad game, I knew they would be behind me."

Bad games didn't come very often.

Wood batted .410 at the plate, collected a career-high 32 hits, drove in 25 runs and knocked three balls out of the park. Inside the circle, the right-hander posted a microscopic 0.63 earned run average (ERA) and sat down 180 hitters on strikeouts in 121 2/3 innings of work.

Opposing teams hit just .148 against her.

She credited her success to three people -- PHS head football coach Travis Gaster, her dad and her travel ball coach. All three assisted in different phases of the game, but it was Gaster who might have had the biggest impact on Wood.

Stringent workouts in the weight room tested Wood's discipline and work ethic. But she soon discovered that her strength and endurance had improved. She could put more spin on the ball, which allowed her to throw a tighter screwball -- a pitch that moves opposite of a curveball as the Bulldogs advanced deeper into the postseason.

"My agility was 10 times better (and) my endurance was 10 times longer thanks to him (Gaster)," said Wood, who concluded her career with two single school records -- ERA (0.84) and total strikeouts (403).

"A lot of my success I put toward him. Without him, I don't know what I would have done with my endurance and strength. My dad worked with me pretty much every day -- hitting, pitching defense -- to get me to where I thought I needed to be."

Wood batted .399 during her career with 113 total hits, 88 runs scored, 89 RBI, 50 extra-base knocks and a 1.131 on-base slugging percentage.

Princeton won 79 games and extended its Carolina 1-A Conference championship win streak to 10 with Wood in the lineup. She helped guide the Bulldogs' volleyball team to the 2014 state 1-A title -- the first in any girls' sport in school history. PHS returned to the volleyball final in 2015, but lost in four sets to Alleghany.

She, Peedin and Carroll have set a new standard for future Bulldogs.

"I hope that the girls who are going to be there next year and the girls who grow up and play Princeton softball one day, will be able to continue what we have done over the past four years in softball and volleyball," Wood said.