By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SALISBURY — Tennessee softball player Emma Clarke spent an hour of her Thanksgiving break at Go Burrito!, her favorite local eating place, and was gracious to the patrons who recognized her.
Not a lot of them did because Clarke usually was sitting down. You don’t realize she’s 6-foot-1 until she stands up. Then you can appreciate the height and length that helped her enjoy one of the greatest high school careers in Rowan County history.
Clarke was the first Rowan female ever to be honored by the NCHSAA as the state’s athlete of the year. That was for the 2023-24 school year after four years of non-stop success at West Rowan in volleyball, basketball and softball.
“It feels weird now to only be playing one sport,” Clarke said. “I do miss volleyball and basketball some.”
Since she was a Player of the Year and All-State in softball and volleyball, basketball had to be her third sport, but she scored 1,000 points. She was one of the standouts for Ashley Poole’s back-to-back 3A state champions. She had a double-double in the state championship game her senior season, and while she wasn’t the MVP, she was voted the Falcons’ Most Outstanding Player.
MaxPreps named Clarke as one of the top 10 North Carolina athletes of the 21st century. That takes in 25 years and a lot of male and female athletes, so that’s serious stuff.
Clarke hit 43 homers and drove in 154 runs for coach Jimmy Greene’s Falcons and was considered one of the country’s best softball hitters, but all freshmen athletes get a strong dose of reality. Clarke was a Tennessee recruit, and everyone that the Vols sign was their hometown’s version of Emma Clarke — or close to it.
“The first humbling moments came last January,” Clarke said. “We were practicing so hard, practicing all day, and I wasn’t getting as many reps as some of the other girls, so I could see I probably was not going to start.”
Clarke’s softball versatility is legendary – anything from catcher to shortstop — but not having a defined position isn’t always helpful when you’re trying to carve out a role in a new environment.
“I’m a true utility player,” Clarke explained. “Sometimes my coaches figure out the rest of their lineup first, and then see where they need to plug me in.”
Clarke had never sat on the bench in any sport at any point in her life, so there were new experiences ahead of her as a freshman. She handled it. If there’s one thing everyone agrees on about Clarke, it’s that she’s the best teammate you could possibly imagine.
Tennessee (47-17) played 64 games. Clarke hung in there and wound up playing in 44 and starting 34.
“When I wasn’t playing early in the season, it wasn’t fun, but I tried to keep the right mindset,” Clarke said. “You work harder. You still come prepared to play every day. And if I wasn’t playing, I was still able to put all my energy into supporting my teammates.”
A role gradually developed for her — backup catcher. That’s a position she hadn’t played since she was 12, but she put her heart and soul into it. When you catch for Tennessee that means catching Karlyn Pickens, a 6-foot-1 athlete who can fire seeds in the high 70s — with movement.
Clarke continued to work on her hitting — lots of practice reps with assistant coach Craig Snider and then hitting some more after practice.
Clarke launched her first college home run against Rutgers.
She had a two-run double against Mississippi State.
By the end of the season, Clarke was having good enough at-bats that she became a regular as the DP, which meant she was in the batting order, but didn’t play in the field.
“I talked to (head coach) Karen Weekly, and she told me she was happy with the way our defense was playing, but she wanted my bat in there,” Clarke said. “I was happy to get a chance to contribute in that role.”
Clarke produced a career-high three RBIs in a regional win against Miami of Ohio.
Clarke was still in there swinging for the Vols at the very end. They beat Nebraska in the Super Regional to advance to the World Series in Oklahoma City.
“My roommate (Ella Dodge) hit a huge home run for us,” Clarke said. “That was the most fun game of my life. We had played Nebraska in the first game of the season in Florida and we didn’t play well at all, so beating them was the best possible way to get to the World Series. Then, just being in the World Series was unreal because that’s one of those things you dream about when you’re a kid. To actually be playing in the World Series as a freshman, that feeling was hard to describe.”
Clarke did OK in the World Series, driving in a run against Florida and getting a double against Oklahoma. Those pitchers were tough.
Clarke’s season stats were modest — 19 hits, two homers, 12 RBIs and a .211 batting average, but she often held her own as a freshman in the nation’s best college league. Physically, she has all the talent in the world, so it’s mostly a matter of being in a good place mentally when she steps into the batter’s box against SEC-level pitching.
Her confidence has been boosted by a sensational fall season. There was a two-game stretch when she produced eight RBIs, scored seven runs and had five extra-base hits, including two homers. She clobbered one pitch over the scoreboard against Tennessee Tech. That was a no-doubt blast that reminded people of old times.
She didn’t think as much in the fall games and trusted her instincts more. She appears ready for a breakout sophomore season.
“I did feel more like myself in the fall games, like the old confident Emma,” she said with a laugh. “My parents got to see the homer over the scoreboard. They didn’t get to see the ones I hit last year, in person, because they were on weekdays when they were working. But they’re always there to support me at the weekend home games.”
It’s about a four-hour drive for the Clarkes to Knoxville.
Clarke is enjoying school and activities such as Tennessee football games. Her classes have ranged from yoga (“loved it”) to chemistry (“not fun”).
“Classes aren’t easy,” she said. “But there are a lot of resources, like tutors, here that can be very helpful.”
Clarke has heard from the coaching staff this off-season that not only will her offensive responsibility increase, she’ll be looked to as one of the leaders, even as a sophomore, for a team that graduated key players. She has a high softball IQ and a maturity level that is beyond her years. She turned 20 in October.
“Coach Weekly says she has no idea what position I’ll play this season, but I do have confidence that I’m going to be in the lineup somewhere for another very good team,” Clarke said. “I’m just trusting the process and working as hard as I can.”
