ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SOFTBALLAMERICA.COM
South Florida ace Georgina Corrick never imagined she'd be living the softball dream that she is experiencing today.
Corrick, a senior, is in the midst of a season for the ages for the Bulls this year. In 2022 to date, she's led the South Florida pitching staff with a 31-5 record, 357 strikeouts and a 0.44 ERA .
“You wake up every single day when you are 15 and you have other things to worry about,” Corrick said. “You worry about if you’re going to be asked to prom, you worry about exams. I didn’t really think about the potential of what I could do. I just knew that I loved softball and I had a really good time doing it.”
Now holding eight South Florida softball records, including being the program's all-time leader in strikeouts, along with five American Athletic Conference records, Corrick can’t seem to be stopped.
And with 1,237 career strikeouts and counting, she is currently the only softball pitcher in Division 1 with 30 or more wins so far this season.
“You always think you’re mediocre until you’re not,” Corrick said. “It took me a while to realize that I might be something that is a little above other people.”
Corrick felt like last season didn’t quite reflect her abilities, so she took her fifth year of eligibility this academic year with no doubts.
“At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, it was very much that the pitchers had to do what worked best for us,” Corrick said. “The coolest thing was being able to throw bullpens next to my teammates and just being a student of the game.”
No one is harder on herself than Corrick. She admits that she often has ‘B’ and ‘C’ days, hardly keeping track of her own stats and just going with the flow of games. So, when she accomplishes feats like throwing perfect games and no hitters, as well as maintaining a minuscule ERA, someone else usually has to remind her about them.
“It feels surreal,” Corrick said. “I always joke that it’s someone else's job to keep track of the numbers. When I am on the mound, I don’t really notice or ever think about it. It feels like an out-of-body experience. At the end of the day, I am just out here having fun and doing what makes me happy.”
But behind all of those stats is just a player who wants the best for her team.
“It means the world to me that we can come out here and do what we all love, collectively, and have a great time doing it,” Corrick said. “The team atmosphere we have this year is better than anything I have had in my previous experiences. Every single person wants all of us to be successful. Having that kind of positivity and support around you is great.”
As Corrick’s time with South Florida nears its end, she has her eyes set on her next goal: playing professional softball.
And she'll get to achieve that goal this summer, as she was selected in the 2022 Athletes Unlimited Softball College Draft on May 4 and invited, along with 12 other college seniors, to join the professional softball league.
“If you’re good at something, why would you quit it?,” Corrick said. “There has been a lot more talk about professional opportunities like Athletes Unlimited and WPF. Not only is softball getting the representation that it deserves, but people are starting to invest money in it. Pro is a huge option for me, and after that, I have a great education from USF.”
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