By Mike London
Salisbury Post
CHINA GROVE — South Rowan AD Chris Krieg is a former college football coach and NASCAR pit crew chief.
His 17-year-old daughter’s first name is a permanent tribute to his racing days, but Danica Krieg doesn’t climb behind the wheel to race at high speeds. The rising senior is too busy with volleyball, basketball and softball at South Rowan.
Krieg committed early to Coker University’s softball program, just a few months into her junior year.
“My mom (Shannon) played college softball at West Liberty and my dad has always been involved in sports,” Krieg said. “So they got me started with Tee-ball when I was 4 or 5. I think I’ve known since about sixth grade that softball was going to be my best sport. Softball is where my heart is.”
When you’re taller than most girls (5-foot-9) and exceptionally athletic, as Krieg is, you can be good even in your secondary sports. Her friends want her to play and coaches want her to play and her school needs her to play and her parents encourage her to play, so Krieg gives all she’s got to volleyball in the fall and basketball during the winter. In both of those sports, she occasionally makes a play that makes jaws drop, a play that none of her teammates could have made.
She might fly through the air for a steal, dribble the length of the court through traffic and make a reverse finish or a bounce pass for a layup, stuff like that. She doesn’t do it every game, but she has done it.
Krieg has received school athletic awards — Co-MVP or the Coaches Award — in all three sports. She served as vice president of the junior class and she played on Rowan Junior Lady Legion’s back-to-back state championship teams.
It’s possible Krieg would be further ahead in softball if that’s all she did year-round, but it’s also possible she may have burned out by now. She definitely prefers life when it’s a three-sport whirlwind.
“When I first got to high school, playing three sports was difficult,” Krieg said. “I remember the summer before my freshman year when we started having workouts for multiple sports every day and that was kind of a shock. But after a while your body gets used to it. You start bouncing back quicker.”
The time will come when Krieg will be thinking about softball 24/7, but for now she’s making lifelong friendships and happy memories in the gym with basketball and volleyball.
“My favorite basketball and volleyball games this school year were games where I could feel my teammates coming together,” Krieg said. “The Concord basketball game that we came back and won. The Carson volleyball match at home that we lost, but it was very competitive, and we saw how good we could be when we all worked together.”
Her favorite softball moment will be hard to top even if she plays until she’s 90.
“The East Rowan game my sophomore year — the one where we got a triple play to end the game,” Krieg said.
Krieg’s best defensive position might be first base and her second-best position might be center field, but South head coach Shane Stewart stationed her in right field or left field this season, and you do what the coach wants and the team needs. Some nights were quiet for her, but some were active. She got to make some key catches and important throws.
“We won a playoff game on the road this year, just got on the bus, went up to Greensboro and got the job done like it was no problem at all,” Krieg said. “Then we lost in nine innings (at top-seeded Enka) in the second round. They only hit one ball to the outfield all night, and it was in the gap.”
South improved to 15-8 this season. Stats are available for 21 of the Raiders’ 23 games. In those 21, Krieg batted .339 with 15 runs scored and 13 RBIs. She had nine doubles and two homers, one at Concord and one at home against Northwest Cabarrus. She just missed a second homer at Concord when her drive hit the top of the fence.
Coker discovered Krieg in a summer tournament in Raleigh playing for her Next Top Recruits travel team.
“I didn’t have a great game, so I was surprised when an assistant coach from Coker came up after the game and talked to me,” Krieg said. “Then I met Coker’s head coach. They stayed in contact with me after that. They invited me to visit (Hartsville, S.C.) and I went down there back in October. It’s about 30 minutes from Florence. It’s on the small side, but I saw that as a plus, not a negative. Everyone was friendly and I felt very comfortable there. When they offered, I was ready to commit.”
Krieg is a top student with a 4.0 GPA. She plans to major in psychology and lists sports psychologist as her dream career.
But for now there’s still one more season of high school volleyball, basketball and softball for her to enjoy.
“I definitely plan to play all three sports again as a senior,” Krieg said. “That’s who I am. I’m going to keep working as hard as I can every day, but it should be a very fun year. I’ve got my school now, and there’s no pressure and no worries.”
And then there’s more softball in the summer months, because that’s where her heart is. She plays for a travel team called “Next Top Recruits.”
Krieg
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