Reese Poole
Reese Poole
By Mike London
Salisbury Post
MOUNT ULLA — West Rowan shortstop Reese Poole’s early commitment to UNC Greensboro’s softball program is a win for 5-foot-1 athletes all over the world.
“I think being 5-foot-1 has given me a competitive underdog mentality — I’ve always been someone who knows they have to prove it to doubters every time they walk on the field,” Poole said. “And I’ve been able to use being 5-foot-1 to my advantage. I get under-estimated a lot. I can surprise people with my power.”
No one expects the small girls to hit the ball out of the park, but the 16-year-old Poole does it consistently. She’s 5-foot-1, but she’s a 5-foot-1 keg of dynamite.
West has had awesome pint-sized players before. Tiny Lyndsey Gay was a phenomenal shortstop for West in the state-championship days of a generation ago. Tiny Taylor Martin was outstanding at second base and center field for the Falcons not so long ago and became the shortest Rowan County Athlete of the Year of all-time. Gay and Martin went on to play for Catawba.
What makes Poole a little different, what makes Poole a Division I recruit, is she not only plays terrific defense, she smashes the ball over the fence. Her bat speed gives her the power of someone who is 5-foot-10, 160 pounds.
“Her power for someone of her stature is amazing,” West coach Jimmy Greene said. “When Reese is in the zone, she absolutely crushes the ball. People that see her off the field are stunned when they see what she can do when she’s on the field. She’s proven time and time again that she’s a very special player. I played competitive softball with Reese’s dad 25 years ago. I used to tell Reese she hit like her dad. Now I like to tell her dad that Reese hits better than he did.”
Poole’s father is Donnell Poole, who was a fine baseball player for the Catawba Indians. Reese got started early in the game at 7.
“I actually started dreaming about college softball very early,” Poole said. “I started watching college softball and I was thinking how awesome it was and how cool it would be if I could do that some day.”
When she was 11, Poole became famous locally as the go-to person for the Rowan Little League teams that played in the World Series in 2021 and 2022. She did most of the pitching for those teams and provided a high percentage of the clutch hits.
At West Rowan Middle, Poole was still known mostly for pitching.
“I was the only pitcher we had, so I pitched all the time, and my body was starting to wear down some, so I was glad to make a transition when I got to high school ball,” Poole said. “We had a good pitcher (Lenoir-Rhyne recruit Arabelle Shulenburger) and I was able to move to the infield.”
West still had 6-foot-1 Tennessee recruit Emma Clarke to play shortstop in 2024, but Poole moved to shortstop for the 2025 season and handled the demands of the position smoothly.
“I love Emma and it was wonderful for me getting to play with her for a year,” Poole said. “But I want to break her school records. That’s a goal.”
Poole hit three homers for the Falcons as a freshman and boosted that total to 10 as a sophomore. There’s no telling how many she’ll hit in 2026 and 2027 if the lineup around her is strong enough to keep her from getting walked twice a game. Poole likes to set the bar high. She’s not kidding when she says she wants to launch 20 one season.
Greene isn’t ruling that lofty goal out.
“Reese is still improving every year and that’s what every coach craves,” he said. “She’s worked with KP Parks on her speed and has gotten quite a bit faster. Her home-to-first time has improved and I remember how ecstatic she was when she got a PR last season. She’s improved her footwork and her glove-work on defense. She’s always been good on defense and she works hard to be great. As far as her hitting, we have a saying at West Rowan that homers are mistakes. You want to go to the plate looking to hit hard line drives. If you hit line drives, the homers will come.”
The “mistakes” have come often for Poole.
Her mother, Natalie, keeps track of all of Reese’s numbers. She played 54 games in 2024, counting high school ball, the State Games and travel ball with her Mojo team, coached by legend Monte Sherrill. She had 75 hits, including 21 homers. She drove in 67 runs. She was the district leader in homers in high school and also led her high-powered travel team in homers and RBIs.
Poole lists her walk-off homer against South Rowan as her biggest individual high school thrill, while her favorite team moment was West finally beating East Rowan in the South Piedmont Conference tourney championship last spring. That was a great tournament for all the Falcons, who won games against Carson, South Rowan and East Rowan.
Poole shined against high-level competition over the summer, playing in major tournaments in Georgia, Colorado and California. She socked a grand slam against nationally elite pitching in California. She was named a top 10 performer in Colorado.
Still, recruiting was a little slow. Most college coaches still prefer 5-foot-10 girls, even when the 5-foot-1 girl is hitting the ball over the fence.
“Recruiting was a little bit of a rough ride, not what I expected, and there were some disappointments, but I tried to always look on the bright side,” Poole said. “UNC Greensboro was interested for a while and really wanted me to come visit there. I wasn’t that excited, at first, but when I started researching the program, I saw a lot of things that I liked. The main thing is they win, and I wanted to play for a winning team. Then, when I visited and checked it out, it was better than I ever expected. I was excited to go ahead and commit.”
An important connection was Ally Davis, a UNC Greensboro assistant, who has a lot of ties to the West Rowan community, She knew all about Poole and what she can bring to the Spartans.
“I don’t think the casual softball fan understands how good UNCG is and how big a commit this is for Reese,” Greene said. “They don’t just play D-I softball, they win. They want championships. They want regionals and even beyond that, and Reese can help them get there. She’ll have a great college career.”
