By Angelique McNaughton
May 7, 2013
A diamond in the rough.
That’s how St. James Academy softball coach Kerri Elstun refers to junior Caroline Lipp.
“She’s got so much talent,” Elstun said. “She’s just softball savvy all the way around, offensively and defensively.”
Lipp is in her third season as a starter for the Thunder, and while she’s had a successful tenure, this year the right-handed catcher has really started to shine.
Through 35 at-bats, Lipp has maintained a .543 batting average, which includes two home runs and 16 RBIs. She has an on-base percentage of .543, and her batting average hovered around .750 through the first five games of the season.
Elstun said she had witnessed some high school girls hit north of .500 but when they hit .700 “you know you have a pretty good hitter.”
“She’s that kind of girl,” Elstun said. “She’s a clutch hitter, and she’s who you want up to bat. She’s getting stronger, and she’s just a hard worker. When you work that hard for a handful of years, … well, it already has been paying off for her.”
The 17-year-old junior grew up around the sport since her father, Jeff Lipp, played baseball at the collegiate level for Newman University in Wichita.
He coached his daughter from the age of 5 until she started playing competitive club softball in sixth grade.
“She’s hit quite well for many years and she has tended to hit in the middle of the lineup for every team she’s been on,” Jeff Lipp said. “Teams have found a place for her to play through her hitting, and she’s also sort of been a utility player in that she can do most anything, except pitch.”
Lipp has bounced back and forth between second base and catcher since she began starting for the Thunder her freshman year, the same year they took second at state.
The young starter played an integral role during the state tournament, which included hitting a crucial game-winning shot to lead the Thunder into the next phase of the tournament.
“The first game was a pretty tight game, and then the last inning the bases were loaded and I was up to bat,” Caroline Lipp recalled. “The score was 0-0 the whole the game, and there were all these juniors on base and I got a hit between short and third and we won the game. It was the best feeling in the whole world.”
That is how her career has played out: big hits and good feelings.
With a young team with no seniors, Lipp is one of six juniors leading the Thunder this year as the program attempts to rebuild after the loss of a star-studded roster.
Lipp has stepped up to the plate this season, predominantly playing catcher. In the only position that can see the entire field, she has taken and embraced that leadership role.
“We are kind of trying to rebuild our group together, and I think our season has been going pretty well,” Lipp said of her team, whose record sits at 3-6. “Coach (Elstun) has definitely tried to help us be leaders because we had a really good group of seniors last year and we needed to take the reins.”
Because of inclement weather, the Thunder have had four games canceled and five postponed, which has allowed the team to focus more on their hitting during the extra practices.
Throughout the year, Lipp said, she has focused on improving her swing and strength. Lipp plays and practices most of the year since she plays club ball outside of school.
“I think I’ve been doing pretty good,” Lipp said of her career. “Especially this year, I feel like my hitting has excelled a lot because I have worked almost all year on it.”
At press time, Lipp has hit eight doubles this season and hit her only two career home runs, which came back to back against Blue Valley North.
“They definitely have a very good team, and they have really good pitching,” Lipp said of Blue Valley North. “To see that I hit two home runs in a row, it was awesome and it was great.
The two home runs tied a St. James Academy school record for most home runs hit in a single game.
The Thunder’s number three hitter, Lipp is a self-described competitive person and said she loves the game for that reason.
She attributes the speed of the sport and the skills required of a player to the reason why she’s continued with it all these years and why she has her eye on playing at the next level.
“I think I’ve stuck with it because it kind of gets my mind off of things and softball has always been there for me when I needed it,” Lipp said. “It definitely means a lot in my life, and it’s year-round, so I’m with it all the time.”
As the regular season comes to a close this week with a doubleheader on Tuesday against Turner and again on Thursday against De Soto, Lipp said it has “been a different experience this year trying to rebuild”.
“But either way, I’ve really enjoyed my couple years of softball,” she said.
Angelique McNaughton 