Lady Knights standout made nationwide waves over summer
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Rising Lady Knights junior Zoie Shuler recently finished a 5-week, multi-state trek with her travel softball program, the 16U Carolina Cardinals. Shuler opened a lot of eyes along the way, as she continues to eye taking her talents to the collegiate level.
Robbinsville – Most high-school athletes spend the summer enjoying the break from the grind of the often grueling year-round schedule.
Zoie Shuler never considered pressing the brake pedal.
A rising junior, Shuler has already made waves during her first two years at the varsity level. Dressing out for the Lady Knights’ volleyball and basketball teams gave her a chance to show off her athleticism. Three state jump titles in track – one indoor, two outdoor – later capped off her sophomore year.
Then there’s softball.
The dedication to her craft is undeniable. Playing offseason softball – often given the endearing term of “travel” softball, due to the countless miles accumulated to reach some destinations – had already paid off in regional circuits, but Shuler opted to extend her options by joining the 16U Carolina Cardinals, a fast-pitch program that meets once a month for practice in Winston-Salem and plays in a variety of nationwide showcases each summer.
Comprised of players from North Carolina and Virginia, the 16U Cardinals Nationals recently embarked on a five-week, multi-state tour that took the team to Colorado, Florida and California. In that order.
“We played a couple of tournaments in Greenville (S.C.) and Rock Hill, just to get ready for the bigger ones,” Shuler said. “I played pretty good in Rock Hill, but I wasn’t satisfied. So I worked really hard until we left for Colorado. It was a 24-hour trip – but we have a RV, so it wasn’t bad.”
The grueling schedule began with a June 27 through July 3 stint in Denver for the Triple Crown Sparkler. It was at the event that Ralph Weekly – the former head coach for the University of Tennessee softball program, who just retired last year after a 35-year stay with the Volunteers – got a bird’s eye of what Shuler has to offer.
“I didn’t play as well as I wanted to, but it was good competition – really good competition,” Shuler said. “There were several college coaches out there.
“We were playing in a game that we had to win to stay alive. My first at-bat, I hit a line drive to center field. Before I come up for my second at-bat, Ralph came and sat down – he’s really good friends with both my coaches. I was on deck. So when I saw him, I hit a home run. He looked around and told someone, ‘I’ve seen all I need to’ and walked off.”
Shuler and her family had a week to recover from the long trip before she jumped in a car with her father Michael for the closest leg of the loop – Newberry, Fla., a seven-hour drive and the site of the ProSwings Power 50 Tournament.
“I worked my butt off all week before we went to Florida, and I played really well,” Shuler said. “There were 50 teams there, and you had to be invited to play. I did hit three inside-the-park home runs, though – they played me as a slapper, so I would hit it down the right-field line.”
“I also received a couple of emails from different schools (while I was down there).”
Even with the interest she had attained along the way – along with Tennessee, Shuler has heard from UNC-Chapel Hill and Alabama – tucked away in her mind, a cross-country trek awaited. Zoie and Michael returned from Newberry on a Sunday – and by Tuesday, it was back to the RV for an excursion to Huntington Beach, Calif., host city for the Premier Girls Fastpitch 2022 National Championship.
Shuler found out just in time that she would be needed a day earlier than anticipated in California for a scrimmage game, but she arrived in plenty of time for the exhibition and set her sights on a national crown.
Monday, July 25, featured the Carolina Cardinals winning their first game against the So Cal A’s, 6-3. However, the Cardinals fell in a 3-2 heartbreaker to Texas Sudden Impact on July 26, before dropping a 6-0 affair against the Nebraska Gold on July 27, ending their championship hopes.
“It went really well,” Shuler said. “I hit the ball very well, and they had me play infield and outfield (Shuler is a shortstop for Robbinsville).”
Believe it or not, she found a way to improve – the very reason you play extra softball.
“I had gotten into some really bad habits in my swing. I was stepping and my head was moving,” Shuler said in analyzing herself. “Every time someone threw me a rise ball in Colorado, I’d miss it. Dad and I worked on that, and now I’m not stepping – I just have my head up and my heel down. I hit the rise ball every time.”
Numbers don’t lie
Carolina Cardinals skipper John Garner impressed upon The Graham Star in a Monday conversation just how seamless the game comes to Shuler.
“From day one, she bought in and gave her team 100 percent at practice and games,” Garner said. “Zoie played the 2022 season at the highest level amateur softball has to offer and excelled.”
“Excelled” might be the most appropriate way to describe what Shuler brought to the Cardinals this season. She accumulated 31 stolen bases, posted a .380 average and finished the year with a .660 on-base percentage. She ran a 10.67 home-to-home time while the team was at the Denver tournament, flawlessly showing off her speed. But as strong as her performance on the field was, Garner was quick to emphasize her time sitting at a desk is much more important.
“As good as an athlete Zoie is, she is a superstar in the classroom,” Garner added. “I am so excited to watch this kid from Robbinsville chase her dreams.”
Home cookin’
It is hard to argue with the results Shuler’s offseason work has produced.
She was named as an All-Smoky Mountain Conference selection for both her freshman and sophomore years – including receiving the nod for 2022 Player of the Year – and has received statewide acclaim for her play, including a listing on the 2022 N.C. Softball Coaches Association’s 1A All-State lineup, an honor she shared with classmate Memory Frapp.
And how could anyone deny the recognition? Over just two seasons of varsity play, Shuler has a .527 batting average, with 10 home runs, 13 doubles, nine triples, 62 RBI and 37 stolen bases.
“Zoie is a kid blessed with incredible athleticism. A rare, five-tool player,” Lady Knights head coach Billy Knight said. “In my opinion, we have not yet seen her best year. I think this coming year has a chance to be special. I have been coaching for right at 30 years now and she is the best athlete – boy or girl – I have ever seen in the Smoky Mountain Conference. I will look for her – along with Memory – to lead this team the next two years. She is fun to coach and a tremendous competitor. She hates to lose or fail at anything. That’s my kind of kid.
“I am excited for her career, but I am even more excited to see what she does after high school. It is so rewarding as a coach to see a kid work hard and make their dreams come true.”