By Rubin E. Grant
During the sixth inning of the second game of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s All-Star Sports Week North-South Softball All-Star doubleheader last Wednesday, the public address announcer told the fans, players and coaches to stick around afterward for the MVP presentation at Lagoon Park in Montgomery.
John Carroll Catholic pitcher Macey Ogle immediately began wondering who that might be from the North team for which she was playing.
“I started thinking about who was doing good on my team and I said to myself, ‘I have done well, so it might be me,’” Ogle said.
Ogle had done a little more than well. She slugged a dramatic home run to dead center in the top of the seventh inning of Game 1 to send it into extra innings. The North pulled out an 11-8 victory in eight innings.
In the second game, Ogle started in the pitching circle and hurled three shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out one to get the win as the North competed the sweep with a 6-1 victory. She was 3 for 4 at the plate with two RBI in the doubleheader.
Even so, Ogle still wasn’t expecting to be named MVP, especially considering the games featured seven players who have orally committed to SEC schools, including four on the North team.
“When they called my name, I was still surprised,” Ogle said.
Ogle, a rising senior, was thrilled to be playing in the All-Star doubleheader.
“It was really cool, getting to play with girls I know,” she said. “I have played against most of them, but I don’t get to play with them, especially all the SEC commits.
“I was really proud of the way I played. I really competed.”
The MVP award wasn’t the only thing that surprised Ogle. Her clutch home run in the opener off Benjamin Russell’s 6-foot pitcher Taylor Harris was totally unexpected.
“I was standing in the on-deck circle and I said to myself, ‘Macey you know she throws a drop ball, so be ready for it,’” she said. “I struggle with that pitch, so I told myself to make sure she gets it up. The first ball I swung out of my shoes and missed it. I told myself again it has to be up. So the next one was up a little and I swung. I don’t know how I hit it out.
“I was rounding the bases and I said, ‘Wow, I just hit a home run to tie the game.’ I usually hit home runs, but my last one had come in an area game back in May. My travel ball doesn’t let the pitchers hit too much.”
Ogle had a superb junior season for John Carroll in the spring, leading the Cavaliers at the plate and in the circle. She posted a .523 batting average with 63 runs batted in and had an 18-8 pitching record with a 2.54 earned run average. She was voted to the 2021 All-OTM team.
Ogle has committed to Lipscomb University in Nashville.
“I really like the size of Lipscomb,” she said. “Before I came to John Carroll, I was at Our Lady of the Valley. I have always gone to a smaller school. I have some family in Nashville, and the Lipscomb team has a family environment. I love the coaches and the players. It’s still a Division I school, but I have to go up there and compete and have fun.”
Following the All-Star doubleheader, Ogle boarded a plane early the following morning to fly to Huntington Beach, California, where her travel ball team, Fury 2022 Premier, is competing in a national tournament.
Being able to play softball year-round is something Ogle enjoys about the sport.
“I love that I get to make so many friends from all parts of the country,” she said. “There’s a girl on my travel ball team from New York. I also get to compete. I love to compete.”
Other All-Star MVPs
Ogle wasn’t the only player from an Over the Mountain school to earn MVP honors during All-Star Sports Week.
Hoover’s Kosi Udeh was chosen the North team MVP after scoring a goal on a penalty kick early in the first half to help the North post a 3-0 victory in the boys soccer game at the Emory Folmar Soccer Complex.
Oak Mountain’s Davis Gillespie was selected the North MVP in the baseball doubleheader. He hit a base-clearing triple and pitched two shutout innings in Game 1, which the South won 7-6 at Riverwalk Stadium. Gillespie also had a hit in the second game, which ended in a 3-3 tie.
Hoover’s Rya McKinnon had seven kills and six digs to earn North MVP honors in the volleyball game, which the South won 25-22, 25-22, 25-22 at Cramton Bowl’s MultiPlex.
Vestavia Hills’ Crawford West finished first overall with a time of 19:18.26 in the hot, muggy conditions in the girls cross-country race at Gateway Park to earn North MVP honors. The North scored a perfect 15 to win 15-42.
