HAWLEY – During the final frame of a pivotal pitchers’ duel, the game rested on Emma Follis’ shoulders.
After Follis helped Stamford carry a no-hitter into the seventh inning, a hit-by-pitch and a line-drive single put the Bulldogs in a tight spot with runners on the corners and no outs against District 8-2A rival Hawley.
A wild pick-off throw bounced behind the lead base runner and into left field, allowing the Bearcats to plate the game-tying run and advance a potential game-winning run at third base.
Follis and the Bulldogs, however, buckled down. Stamford’s junior ace mowed down the Bearcats’ lineup with three straight strikeouts to pitch her way out of a jam.
Follis’ clutch performance in the circle set the table for the Bulldogs in extra innings, as Stamford pounced on Hawley during an explosive eighth inning to seal a 9-1 victory Tuesday night in Hawley.
“Honestly, I just try to stay calm and trust the process,” Follis said. “All our hard work at practice as a team, it pays off. We like hard situations and we thrive under pressure. Pressure makes diamonds too.”
She finished the night with 13 strikeouts, one hit-by-pitch, one walk and one hit allowed.
“Emma has done a great job for us all year. She hits her spots real well and keeps them off balance,” Stamford softball head coach Sean Slavin said. “I think (Hawley) had one decent, hard-hit ball and the rest of them were fairly soft, so she was able to keep them off balance. Her ball moves a lot, and that’s what makes her good.”
Follis’ near-no-hitter against Hawley was the latest example of her dominance in the circle. She has steadily grown into one of the area’s top pitchers and gradually developed into the Big Country’s strikeout queen.
The Bulldogs’ right-hander jumped into the deep end when she received her introduction to varsity softball as a freshman with big shoes to fill.
She stepped in to serve as Stamford’s primary starting pitcher after the Bulldogs’ prior ace – Citlaly Gutierrez – graduated to pitch at the next level for the Texas Longhorns.
“I feel like that helps me,” she said. “It (makes me) think like I have shoes to fill. Like I need to just try to be great and help our team be great.”
Follis embraced the opportunity and made the most of it, applying what she had learned from watching Gutierrez while crafting her own style in the circle.
She hit the ground running as a freshman phenom and helped lead the Bulldogs to their third consecutive Class 2A UIL Softball State Tournament appearance. She ended the 2023 season with an 18-5 record and 1.85 ERA in the circle to go along with a .522 batting average, six home runs, 15 stolen bases and a team-leading 64 RBIs.
Since her breakout freshman campaign, Follis has continued to excel in the circle while also establishing herself as a dynamic two-way player who sets the table for Stamford’s offense and spearheads the Bulldogs’ stifling defense.
“Her freshman year, she had six seniors, and those seniors just kind of encapsulated her and gave her all the love and encouragement she needed. And now it’s like it’s your turn to do that. You’re the leader everyone’s looking to and now you got to be that person for somebody else,” Slavin said.
“It’s just the cycle of high school sports, but that kid works hard. She goes to lessons, pitches all summer, and she worked insanely hard to come back from the broken thumb that she suffered last year. She’s getting a lot of college looks.”
Follis showed flashes of her power at the plate during Stamford’s massive, eight-run barrage in the top of the eighth in their win over Hawley.
After the middle and bottom part of the Bulldogs’ lineup caught fire and sparked a rally, Follis slugged an RBI triple to extend their lead and help Stamford seal a decisive victory.
The Bulldogs are surging at the right time too. They’re 10-1 since early March and have been outscoring their opponents 132-21 during that stretch thanks largely to their chemistry and cohesion, as well as Follis’ brilliance in the circle.
“The thing that we’ve talked about from the beginning of the year is ‘Mudita,’ and it’s a term that I got from Pat Murphy, the head coach at Alabama softball,” Slavin said.
“Mudita is taking joy in the success of others, and so being a championship team is tough because you’ve got kids that are really good and then other kids that are really good; they’re just not starters and they’re backups. And the hardest thing to do is to accept being a backup or playing a role like running bases or courtesy running. But our team, and not just our team, but our parents have bought into that culture.”
With its extra-innings victory over the Bearcats, Stamford secured its first district title since 2023 when the Bulldogs reached the UIL state semifinals during Follis’ freshman year.
As the playoffs approach, though, Slavin, Follis and the Bulldogs have their eyes set on a bigger prize – their first Texas high school softball state championship since 2023.
Follis, who has been razor sharp in her junior year, will look to follow in Gutierrez’s footsteps and become the next star pitcher to help Stamford bring home a UIL state title.
“I think everyone has been a leader in their own way,” she said. “We’ve all been positive and cheering. I think the biggest thing this year is that we’ve all cheered as a team, and I feel like that has kept the energy up and everyone positive.”
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Emma Follis stepping up as Stamford softball’s next veteran ace
HAWLEY – During the final frame of a pivotal pitchers’ duel, the game rested on Emma Follis’ shoulders.
After Follis helped Stamford carry a no-hitter into the seventh inning, a hit-by-pitch and a line-drive single put the Bulldogs in a tight spot with runners on the corners and no outs against District 8-2A rival Hawley.
A wild pick-off throw bounced behind the lead base runner and into left field, allowing the Bearcats to plate the game-tying run and advance a potential game-winning run at third base.
Follis and the Bulldogs, however, buckled down. Stamford’s junior ace mowed down the Bearcats’ lineup with three straight strikeouts to pitch her way out of a jam.
Follis’ clutch performance in the circle set the table for the Bulldogs in extra innings, as Stamford pounced on Hawley during an explosive eighth inning to seal a 9-1 victory Tuesday night in Hawley.
“Honestly, I just try to stay calm and trust the process,” Follis said. “All our hard work at practice as a team, it pays off. We like hard situations and we thrive under pressure. Pressure makes diamonds too.”
She finished the night with 13 strikeouts, one hit-by-pitch, one walk and one hit allowed.
“Emma has done a great job for us all year. She hits her spots real well and keeps them off balance,” Stamford softball head coach Sean Slavin said. “I think (Hawley) had one decent, hard-hit ball and the rest of them were fairly soft, so she was able to keep them off balance. Her ball moves a lot, and that’s what makes her good.”
Follis’ near-no-hitter against Hawley was the latest example of her dominance in the circle. She has steadily grown into one of the area’s top pitchers and gradually developed into the Big Country’s strikeout queen.
The Bulldogs’ right-hander jumped into the deep end when she received her introduction to varsity softball as a freshman with big shoes to fill.
She stepped in to serve as Stamford’s primary starting pitcher after the Bulldogs’ prior ace – Citlaly Gutierrez – graduated to pitch at the next level for the Texas Longhorns.
“I feel like that helps me,” she said. “It (makes me) think like I have shoes to fill. Like I need to just try to be great and help our team be great.”
Follis embraced the opportunity and made the most of it, applying what she had learned from watching Gutierrez while crafting her own style in the circle.
She hit the ground running as a freshman phenom and helped lead the Bulldogs to their third consecutive Class 2A UIL Softball State Tournament appearance. She ended the 2023 season with an 18-5 record and 1.85 ERA in the circle to go along with a .522 batting average, six home runs, 15 stolen bases and a team-leading 64 RBIs.
Since her breakout freshman campaign, Follis has continued to excel in the circle while also establishing herself as a dynamic two-way player who sets the table for Stamford’s offense and spearheads the Bulldogs’ stifling defense.
“Her freshman year, she had six seniors, and those seniors just kind of encapsulated her and gave her all the love and encouragement she needed. And now it’s like it’s your turn to do that. You’re the leader everyone’s looking to and now you got to be that person for somebody else,” Slavin said.
“It’s just the cycle of high school sports, but that kid works hard. She goes to lessons, pitches all summer, and she worked insanely hard to come back from the broken thumb that she suffered last year. She’s getting a lot of college looks.”
Follis showed flashes of her power at the plate during Stamford’s massive, eight-run barrage in the top of the eighth in their win over Hawley.
After the middle and bottom part of the Bulldogs’ lineup caught fire and sparked a rally, Follis slugged an RBI triple to extend their lead and help Stamford seal a decisive victory.
The Bulldogs are surging at the right time too. They’re 10-1 since early March and have been outscoring their opponents 132-21 during that stretch thanks largely to their chemistry and cohesion, as well as Follis’ brilliance in the circle.
“The thing that we’ve talked about from the beginning of the year is ‘Mudita,’ and it’s a term that I got from Pat Murphy, the head coach at Alabama softball,” Slavin said.
“Mudita is taking joy in the success of others, and so being a championship team is tough because you’ve got kids that are really good and then other kids that are really good; they’re just not starters and they’re backups. And the hardest thing to do is to accept being a backup or playing a role like running bases or courtesy running. But our team, and not just our team, but our parents have bought into that culture.”
With its extra-innings victory over the Bearcats, Stamford secured its first district title since 2023 when the Bulldogs reached the UIL state semifinals during Follis’ freshman year.
As the playoffs approach, though, Slavin, Follis and the Bulldogs have their eyes set on a bigger prize – their first Texas high school softball state championship since 2023.
Follis, who has been razor sharp in her junior year, will look to follow in Gutierrez’s footsteps and become the next star pitcher to help Stamford bring home a UIL state title.
“I think everyone has been a leader in their own way,” she said. “We’ve all been positive and cheering. I think the biggest thing this year is that we’ve all cheered as a team, and I feel like that has kept the energy up and everyone positive.”
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Emma Follis stepping up as Stamford softball’s next veteran ace
