Campbellsville University junior Caroline Pitcock, 21, was born and raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and has been playing softball since she was just four years old. Through years of training and dedication, she was named an NCCAA First Team All American after a stellar 2024 sophomore campaign. In her previous season, Pitcock led the Campbellsville Tigers softball team in batting average (.410), hits (64), doubles (16), triples (4), slugging (.718), OPS (1.198) and walks (18).
Though she went on a tear last season, Pitcock admitted she hasn’t always been such a successful hitter. Up until middle school, she said she could hit the ball, but it would never go very far. Through working with her hitting coach, Jason Bartlett, Pitcock said something clicked and it was uphill from there. She wound up playing varsity softball for South Warren High School as a seventh grader.
“I was playing JV softball, freshman softball, varsity softball, travel softball and middle school softball,” said Pitcock.
It seemed like everything had figured itself out for Pitcock, until she broke her elbow and popped one of her growth plates off between seventh and eighth grade.
“It was kind of hard coming back from that because I was so young,” said Pitcock. “That was the biggest turnaround in my career… I had come off such a great year, and it was when I was kind of finding myself.”
When Pitcock returned from injury for her freshman season at South Warren High School, she said she really struggled offensively. She was back to hitting the ball with no juice, and her mechanics were gone. Instead of throwing in the towel, Pitcock continued working with Bartlett, and eventually found her way back.
“We really just kinda focused on keeping things simple and getting my head out of it, and just trying to get me back to the person that I was before,” Pitcock said.
Aside from working with her hitting coach, Pitcock said her parents played a big role in her success. She said they’ve always pushed her to be the best she could be, but never by force. One of the most important things Pitcock’s parents taught her growing up is to always try her best and let everything else happen.
“They just let me go out there and they wanted me to have fun,” Pitcock said. “That was the biggest thing that’s allowed me to love softball so much… It helps me not put as much pressure on myself because I know that they’re not putting any on me.”
Throughout her unreal high school career, Pitcock batted .472 with 288 plate appearances. With 118 total hits, she tallied 18 home runs, 23 doubles and eight triples. Although she said she never had a plan to play after high school, the next step for Pitcock in her softball career was committing to Campbellsville University.
Putting up video game-like numbers in high school, Pitcock said she didn’t want to commit to a DI school and never see the field. She chose CU because she knew she would have a real shot at playing time.
“I would rather go somewhere maybe not as high of a level, but still a successful program where I knew I could play, so that’s what has really been good about being here,” said Pitcock.
Now in her junior season for the Lady Tigers, Pitcock said she really enjoys CU. Through 12 games this season, Pitcock has already slugged six home runs and tied for fourth most in the country. Alongside Pitcock, also with six home runs is her good friend and teammate, Jessie Daniels. Daniels said it’s a blast playing with Pitcock, and how could it not be when you get to hit a bunch of home runs with one of your best friends?
“It always seems like every time I hit a home run, she’s right behind me hitting one,” said Daniels. “We like to go back and forth.”
Though Pitcock doesn’t consider herself much of a vocal leader on the softball team, she said having the most college experience among the infielders put her in a leadership role. While she may say words of encouragement one-on-one, Pitcock considers herself to be the type to lead by example. Another one of her good friends on the team, Selynna Metcalfe, said that no matter what kind of day Pitcock had, she’s always been positive on and off the field.
“On the field, you can never tell if Caroline just made an error or made the best play of her life,” Metcalfe said. “She stays in the moment and plays the next pitch like it’s the most important. Because of this, she is such an easy person to look up to.”
Pitcock also acknowledged how challenging it can be to battle your impulses and emotions while in the leadership role.
“You just have to try and remain positive,” Pitcock said, “because being one of the older ones and being considered one of the leaders on the team, people do look up to you, and they feed off your emotions. So, it’s hard staying positive while things aren’t necessarily going your way.”
For Pitcock, the girls she has played with during her time at CU have meant the most to her. She said she couldn’t imagine not being friends with some of them if she were to have gone somewhere else for college. Pitcock also said the team recruited an abnormally large number of transfers this year, so the team wanted to focus on comradery. One of the ways they stay together is hanging out at the “juco girls’’ house.
“If we’re not at softball, we’re together anyway,” said Pitcock. “We’ll go over there, they’ll cook for us, we’ll hang out and play games. It’s just really good for us to all go out there and spend quality time together away from softball.”
With such a tight-knit group, Pitcock said the team’s goals are to keep getting better every game. After not making it out of conference last year, Pitcock said the team knew they were better than that. The team’s goals for the year are to win the conference, make it to regionals and win out, and then the World Series.
Pitcock also has some personal goals for the season. She said she wants to hit 10 home runs while maintaining a batting average over .400 for the majority of the season. With six home runs through the Lady Tigers’ first 12 games, Pitcock is well on her way to smashing her goal.
For many athletes, trying to maintain a consistent level of performance can be mentally taxing. With personal expectations and the expectations of others, going through rough patches can be seemingly impossible to escape. For Pitcock, the solution seemed incredibly easy.
“Keep it simple. Don’t do too much. Have fun,” said Pitcock. “I feel like the biggest difference for me is I try not to put pressure on myself. I just try to go out there and have fun, and that’s when I find myself being the most successful. I really think that’s it.”
Another one of her goals for the 2025 season is to be named an NAIA All-American, instead of an NCCAA All-American. While Pitcock acknowledged that receiving NCCAA All-American honors was a big deal, it wasn’t the biggest honor she could strive for, and she wanted to work for it and earn it this season.
As all baseball and softball players know, eventually the hot streak comes to an end, and the slump sets in. Pitcock said she doesn’t do any mental training or visualization to help her break out. When Pitcock falls into a slump, she said just the smallest successes help her get out of it.
“I’ll struggle, I’ll get one hit, and I’m good,” said Pitcock. “I just need that little spark, then I’ve got the confidence to go out there and do it, and I know that I can do it.”
Another contributing factor to Pitcock’s success is her relationship with Christ. Pitcock said softball is simply something she gets to enjoy doing, and she trusts that His plan for everything in her life is going to work out just how it’s supposed to.
“Trusting Him and knowing that He has a plan for me outside of softball helps take the pressure off,” Pitcock said. “Because obviously this isn’t the biggest thing in the entire world. This is not what I’m going to do for the rest of my life, and He has a better plan for me out there.”
