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ABOUT
In Wisconsin, the land of dairy, there is a rising phenom who has softball fans excited and nutrionists, well, perhaps horrified.
Karly Meredith, a highly successful freshman in the Spring of 2022 at Kaukauna High in the Northern part of Wisconsin close to Green Bay, burst onto the scene by helping lead her team to a state title and created a lot of excitement in the local softball community along the way.
Her stat lines from her freshman campaign were eye-popping, not only in the circle, but at the plate as well.
Karly went 15-0 as she pitched 94 innings with 131 strikeouts and, with the bat, racked up nine home runs with a tremendous total of 56 RBIs in 31 games. Additionally, she had a 0.22 ERA with a WHIP of .458 and helped herself offensively by batting .398 with a .459 on-base percentage and even added 12 steals for good measure.
Between the lines, her success led to a boatload of honors including the following—and, remember, this was as a freshman battling against players two and three years older in many cases:
- Wisconsin Division 1 State Champion (31-0)
- 1st Team Fox Valley Association (FVA) All Conference
- FVA Conference Player of the Year
- 1st Team All District
- 1st Team All State
- Post-Crescent Softball Player of the Year
- Fox 11 News Softball Player of the Year
Any way you wanna look at it, Karly got it done on the fields, but her interesting diet may be concerning a bit to parents of young players who want to be just like Karly.
Why?
The youngest of four girls in the Meredith family, Karly has some interesting culinary preferences, to say the least.
“I could eat breakfast three times a day,” she begins, which isn’t too bad until you learn: “… and I eat chocolate ice cream every night before going to bed.”
Parents of impressionable and aspiring softball stars: it’s probably not a good idea to let your youngsters replicate that last admission (though you have to admire Karly for helping drive the state’s well-known dairy industry)!
Seriously, though, the tall and lean athlete doesn’t seem worse for the wear when it comes to her sweet treats and that could be simply because she busts her tail to keep up with her athletic family.
Not only did her Kaukauna High team go undefeated to win the state title, but, making it even more special Karly was that it was a family affair.
“It was a pretty awesome experience as a freshman to do it with my sister and dad as an assistant coach,” she recalls.
That older sister is Kally, a Florida International commit, who also helps motivate the young high schooler to reach her potential.
“She pushes me to be better, we work out and have practiced together daily since we were little,” Karly says. “Kally has also helped me understand the recruiting process better.”
Her athletic family also featured her older sisters who have ice skated competitively and, when weather permits, Karly says she really enjoys tubing, water skiing, and surfing up north in Wisconsin though she states: “I really would like to play in college in the South somewhere warm.”
“It’s pretty cold which makes it harder (to play),” Karly admits of her Wisconsin spring softball outings. “We often play in heated vests, hats and use hand warmers.
Despite all her success and accolades, she wonders if being from a cold weather state will impact her getting noticed in the recruiting process.
“I am not sure if it’s harder to get noticed here,” she says.
The younger sibling also has an interesting nickname: “Squirrel” which she got because she always seemed to be collecting softballs when she was younger and storing them in her bag as squirrels collects their food in the winter.
Is that a moniker she likes… or dislikes?
“The nickname doesn’t bother me,” Karly says evenly. “It’s fine. It was given to me by one our assistant varsity coaches, Bill Huss, when I was an 8U player because I always had my bat bag full of softballs and he said I was like a squirrel and the name stuck.”
After her high school freshman season, Karly decided to make the jump from her local club team over to Bill Conroy’s Beverly Bandits organization, in large part to help her improve her game playing against high-caliber national competition, but also to increase her visibility to college recruiters.
Older sis Kally was already playing for Conroy’s 16U team, so the fit was a natural for her and her family, not to mention the benefits of joining one of the top travel ball organizations in the country.
Karly didn’t take long to impress the leads of the Bandits program as she was placed on Coach Bryan Page’s 16U squad and immediately made her presence felt.
“She throws it in the low-to-mid 60’s with good velocity and spin,” Page begins, “including a .919 WHIP which is incredible with the competition we are playing as a first year 16U team.”
Another trait that makes the young player fun to watch is her versatility.
Karly is not only is one of the top-flight pitchers on the team, but she led her Bandits squad in the Fall with three home runs.
“Don’t let her wiry frame fool you,” Coach Page warns. “She can do it all at the plate and carriers a power stick along with speed on the base paths. Karly is truly the definition of a 5-tool player. She can play multiple positions and is always willing to help the team out in any way possible.”
“She’s a gamer with an assassin mentality on the mound and at the plate,” Page adds.
Karly and her Bandits team had a successful first-year run at the 16U division, winning their bid to California this July at the Top Gun Fall Invite and will be a key member on her Bandits team which compete this Summer at Top Gun Maverick in Kansas City, Boulder IDT, Easton Rawlings in Illinois and PGF Nationals in So Cal.
This weekend, Karly is in Mesa, Arizona playing up on the Bandits – Holloway 18U squad at the Arizona Blast ’23 tourney.
Coach Page says he’s excited to have the high schooler compete for his team once again.
“Karly is a great individual,” he finishes. “She is excellent in the classroom with a 3.95 GPA and a great teammate. Karly is coachable and always does what is asked of her without complaints. I couldn’t ask for a better all-around athlete.”
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball