Lady Bulldog leads team to state championship

Bald Knob’s Autumn Humes is the Three Rivers Edition Softball Player of the Year. Her 0.41 ERA in 144 innings pitched helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to a Class 3A state championship this year.
Bald Knob’s Autumn Humes is the Three Rivers Edition Softball Player of the Year. Her 0.41 ERA in 144 innings pitched helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to a Class 3A state championship this year.

Autumn Humes is an impact player and has been ever since she put on the high school uniform. She helped guide the Lady Bulldogs to back-to-back state championships, and for that, she has been named Three Rivers Edition Softball Player of the Year and garnished several other prestigious awards along the way. She posted a 26-1 record, along with a 0.41 ERA, this past season, leading the Bulldogs (30-2) to the Class 3A state championship.

“I’m very honored and thankful for everyone who has supported me,” Humes said. “My dad is one of my coaches, and I’ve been playing softball since I was 6 years old. I’m looking forward to my senior season because I would like to [win state] again.”

Humes struck out 246 batters in 155 innings pitched, allowing 55 hits and 23 walks. What’s even more impressive about the junior is she had three perfect games and 11 shutouts. At the plate, she batted .543 with 11 home runs, 67 RBIs and a 1.117 slugging percentage. Humes has verbally committed to Harding University and was recently selected as the Gatorade National Player of the Year among softballers in the state.

She may have saved her best performance for the state championship game, where she hit two home runs and drove in the first three runs of the game in a 5-0 victory against rival Harding Academy. It was the fifth meeting of the season between the two schools. Humes said the road to the second championship was just as memorable as the first one, which was a long time coming for Bald Knob.

“Truly, she is the ultimate team player,” coach Brad Roberts said. “She has won many awards this year, but it is not about her; it is about a team. We are one team with one goal. Our team had many wonderful players, but more than that, we had a team of wonderful young ladies who demonstrated how to be good individuals first and a softball team second.”

Humes said one of the reasons she chose Harding University was because of the Christian environment, but the coaches also played a role in her decision to stay close to home.

“It’s a Christian community, and it’s a great academic school,” she said. “I also really like the coaches; it just seems like home to me.”

Roberts also pointed out the fact that it’s just not Humes’ athletic ability that makes her such a great player, but the fact that she leads by example, and that speaks volumes.

“She took the team from a below-average team to a competitive team that was in the semifinal game as a freshman to the state champions as a sophomore and junior,” Roberts said. “Autumn would tell you this team would be great without her, but she was the catalyst on so many levels. It’s the little things that she does that people do not see. Her knowledge of the game and situation allowed her to teach the younger girls what to do and when to do them.

“With Autumn, it might be just a word of encouragement to a younger player who is down or the many times she just stepped up to the plate and started a rally or hit a home run. It is the times she reaches back to give the ball a little extra speed to strike out a batter in a critical situation. I really see it more before and after practice or a game, when she calls the team together and just encourages and then leads a prayer of thanksgiving to be able to enjoy playing the game that the girls love so much. It is demonstrated in every area of her life and with every person she comes in contact with.”

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