By Halie Wetherington Riverbend News
Upcoming senior at Suwannee High School (SHS), Karis Smith, traveled with her Pines Softball team to Gulf Shores, Ala., to begin playing in the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) World Series on Tuesday, July 13. This was their second trip after being crowned National Champions last year and they had the same result this year. Pines went 5-1 and are back-to-back National Champions for 2020 and 2021.
Smith had a .296 batting average for the entirety of the World Series. Defensively, she pitched and played shortstop. For the season with pitching, Smith had 21 strikeouts in 23.2 innings and a 2.07 Earned Run Average (ERA).
She also plays softball for SHS. Last school season, Smith ended with a .517 batting average and 22 Runs Batted In (RBIs), as well as six homeruns. In 90 innings pitched, she racked up 93 strikeouts. She was deemed Riverbend Player of the Year, Lake City Reporter's Softball Player of the Year and placed on the All-Area Team with her senior teammate, Carson Frier. Smith has recently committed to play softball and receive a higher education at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) in Tifton, Ga.