A rejection, a long walk and a bag of chips led Georgia Tech softball coach Sharon Perkins to the likely ACC player of the year.
Perkins hopes that her precious find -- shortstop Kelsi Weseman -- will lead the Yellow Jackets to their third consecutive ACC title. Having won its third regular-season title in a row, Tech will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament, starting Friday at its Mewborn Field. A junior from Hutto, Texas, Weseman has eviscerated ACC pitching and is only getting stronger.
"If there's anybody I'd like at the plate with the bases loaded and the game on the line, I'd pick her any day," Perkins said.
Weseman has assembled one of the best seasons in ACC history. She leads the league in nine offensive statistical categories. She leads the country in slugging percentage (1.034) and is tied for the lead in home runs (21). Weseman, a 5-foot-6, line-drive-hitting lefthander, is a little mystified by her power numbers. Her ratio of 7 at bats per home run laps the rate from her first two seasons, 16.2.
"There's a bunch of people on our team who, [when] they hit it, you're like, ‘Oh, that one's gone,'" Weseman said. "Like 100 feet over the fence. Most of the time, I hit it, I start running and it barely sneaks over."
Her power surge, though, is not nearly as unlikely as Tech's recruitment of her. Perkins was at a tournament in Texas to watch another shortstop who she'd been recruiting for months. After arriving, though, Perkins learned she had verbally committed to another school. Needing to clear her mind, Perkins took a walk down the road, bought a bag of chips and came back. She decided to find another shortstop.
Perkins knew nothing of Weseman or her team. That soon changed.
"I saw her play and I was like, ‘There she is; that's her,'" Perkins said.
It's been a happy match since. Weseman has started since her freshman year and was first-team All-ACC as a freshman and sophomore. She paired up at short with second baseman Jen Yee, who holds several school records and last year was a finalist for national player of the year. Yee's graduation left Weseman to take leadership of the infield and her teammates had to increase their production.
All have filled in well.
Weseman, quiet by nature, has pushed herself out of her comfort zone to become a more vocal presence on the field, acknowledging, "I think I'm getting better at it."
As a team, the Jackets have a better batting average, slugging percentage and fielding percentage and comparable ERA than last year's team did at this time. All of Tech's starting field position players are hitting .300 or better, including center fielder Christy Jones (.342) and first baseman Kristine Priebe (.341). Pitcher Kristen Adkins leads the ACC in ERA (1.49) and is 20-5. Tech is 44-9 and ranked No. 16 in the country.
"I feel like last year we relied on Yee a little bit too much," Weseman said. "This year, everybody is stepping up."
None more so than Weseman.
