Maddie Karr is back, and CPU is aiming high

URBANA — There's no redshirt season in high school.

Get hurt? Tough luck. Season's over, and you don't get it back.

Maddie Karr made the best of it last summer.

'It was really difficult, yeah, but it was a hidden blessing in a way,' said Karr, a junior slugger on a now-veteran Center Point-Urbana softball team.

'It showed me what I wanted to major in ... I want to go into nursing. And it gave me a different perspective, that I shouldn't take anything for granted.'

Karr hit 16 home runs, scored 56 runs and drove in 55 as a freshman in 2015. Her sophomore season ended about four months before it begin. She was going for a steal in a basketball game and collided with an opponent.

Torn ACL. No softball. Just surgery, and a painful avenue of rehabilitation.

'Getting up an 4 a.m., going to physical therapy, I've never seen a kid work as hard as her,' said first-year CPU coach Don Vanourney, who took over the program after serving as an assistant last year.

'You can tell her love and passion for the game.'

Now, she rejoins a team that could be a sleeper on the big scene in Class 3A.

Center Point-Urbana went 22-18 last season, losing in the regional final, 6-3, to Solon after leading much of the game, and returns every starter. Plus Karr.

Seven of those starters are seniors.

'It's now or never for most of us,' said senior shortstop Claire Chandler. 'We have a chip on our shoulders. We want to get to state and do some damage.'

Another senior, center fielder Katelyn Banning said, 'I can tell a difference in attitude. We're more determined. We want to show people who we are.'

The Stormin' Pointers made a spring-season statement, more than holding their own against big-school competition.

Karr was cleared to play in September. In her second at-bat of her first game this spring, she homered.

'That got me really excited,' she said.

CPU returns a potent lineup that features six batters that hit better than .300 last year.

But that power bat in the middle of the lineup — Vanourney may slot her at 3, 4 or 5 in the order — could transform the Stormin' Pointers from 'potent' to 'explosive.'

'There's really nobody you can pitch around,' Vanourney said. 'I can count on my 7, 8 and 9 hitters.'

Karr will wear a brace on her knee this season.

'Sometimes, the leg will get kind of stressed from the brace,' she said. 'I try to stretch it between innings. I've lost some speed because of it, but it's all for safety.'

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Vanourney said that Karr's mobility is good, her arm strength is 'top-notch,' and he has 'no concerns' of putting her back in the field.

She played right field her first two seasons, both of which ended in Fort Dodge. The Stormin' Pointers placed sixth at state in 2014, fourth in 2015.

This year, they want more. As Chandler said, for most of them, it's now or never.

'All of the starters have played together since we were 8 years old,' Karr said. 'As a junior, I want nothing more than for the seniors to win a state championship.'

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