Abbie Sutton Gears Up for New Role on New Team with Chowan Softball

Less than a year ago, Abbie Sutton was the ace of the North Catholic Lady Trojans pitching staff. Now, she finds herself in a new state, with a new team, and in a position she did not play in high school.

(Photos courtesy of Donald Watkins)

Sure, she played the outfield with Steel City Selects, but it’s still a big change from where she was as a high school player less than a year ago. Nonetheless, she’s arrived. She’s arrived at a moment of being a college softball player after years of hard work and lots of miles on the Sutton family vehicle. 

Looking for a fresh start after high school, she spoke to a coach she had connected with in travel ball and at clinics and camps. This was the first coach who ever recruited her, and this coach eventually helped her to discover Chowan University, Division II school located in the warm North Carolina sun. The institution is a small, private Baptist university in the small-town of Murfreesboro, North Carolina. This town is home to just under 3,000 people, while the university has an enrollment of around 1,000 students. “The school, I would say, is what makes this town,” she said. “The people here are amazing and they’re so friendly. It is one thing my family notices right away when my family comes to visit me. All the people who live here are very nice. The southern hospitality feeling is very real.” Though she could not see herself anywhere else, how she got to Chowan University is certainly a very unexpected and unlikely story. The story proves that sometimes, it’s about taking a chance and using your connections to improve your life. “The first college coach who ever recruited me helped to set me up with Chowan’s coach (Junior Bailey). We hit it off when talking on the phone and the school had reputable programs in history and psychology, which are both of my majors. I also always wanted to go to a small school, and that also fell into place. I never expected for it to be here in North Carolina, but things just work out like that sometimes.” The Cranberry Township native excelled in her three seasons as a Lady Trojan, starting every game as a freshman. While her sophomore season was lost because of COVID-19, the program rebounded in 2021 with a sectional championship. Continuing the momentum into senior year, Sutton posted a .422 batting average to go with eight doubles and two home runs. It was a great note to end on, especially playing for a small team that was made-up of only about 14 players throughout the entire season. For a small team, the Lady Trojans were gritty, something she thinks the Hawks will be in a new era under Coach Bailey. Personally, she hopes she can continue to improve each day, fit into her role, and earn playing time as an outfielder. “I think this will be a very telling year for the program. Coach Bailey is a phenomenal coach, and he has over 450 career wins in college. We also have a large incoming class and will make it a very different team than was here in years prior. There’s a lot of talent also already here, and I think we will surprise some people this year.” Looking back on her career prior to college, memories that stick out as some of her favorites include the sectional championship at North Catholic in addition to her first career home run. “There are fewer things more exciting in sports to me than seeing that ball go over the fence and rounding the bases,” she said. “The sectional championship was also such an exciting time because we had such a small team and people I don’t think expected us to accomplish that. She has also met so many great coaches and people along the way who have aided in her progression and improvement in this game. Some of those people include her parents, Joanna and Mike Sutton, her hitting coach, Matt Diesel, her coaches at Steel City Selects, Andy Kertz and Amy Haggart, and her number one fan and grandfather, Ivan Fetzer. Her grandfather was someone who got her most interested in playing the game of softball as he used to play the game. Now, just a few weeks away from her debut in college, there is so much to look forward to over these next four years of college softball for Abbie Sutton. The 2023 season begins on February 3 as the Chowan University Hawks take on Pitt Community College, a National Junior College Athletic Association member located in Greenville, North Carolina.