Most people know the professional, fun-loving, beautiful Kasie that we have all talked about in our postings. One side of Kasie that has not been mentioned much is her love of sports. Kasie was a first class athletic in high school and won many awards for herself and for West Mecklenburg. Kasie loved softball and was a star.

She and Amy both played on traveling teams in the summer so Bob went with Amy and I went with Kasie. We were at a tournament in Columbia, SC one year and the girls were climbing trees to throw water balloons at parents and other team members. We were in Six Flags in Atlanta, Ga and one of the girls distracted the game tender so Heidi could place a dime on the plate and win a prize. Later that night Heidi hid it in the bathroom because it reminded her of Chuckie!! The girls had a lot of fun but they also worked very hard and won most tournaments. These teams played from 8 AM until the wee hours and sometimes 6 or 7 games a day. She was tough.

When she was younger and playing on the Coulwood-Oakdale team, Bob hit her in the eye with a thrown pitch and she spent the evening at the Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital. She played slow-pitch softball and her position was pitcher. The idea was to throw the ball high but have it drop right behind the plate. She and Bob practiced in the driveway by pitching the ball over the basketball goal and into a bushel basket. After hours of this practice, she became perfect. Her teams counted on her and she loved the pressure. She was tough.

One weekend we were playing a tournament at Mallard Creek and she was shot-gunned on the mound and broke her finger. Unfortunately, the playoffs began the next day and Bob had to call Coach Webster and tell him her finger was broke. It rained that day and the games were delayed. Webster and Brewer created a fiberglass cast for Kasie and she pitched through the tournament and on into the State playoffs. She was tough.

Her senior year Kasie became very tired and was not feeling well. She was pitching in a night game and had to come out because she was seeing two batters at the plate. The next day we took her to the doctor and they referred us to a pediatric oncologist because he thought she had leukemia. Her hemoglobin was two and her iron zero! The doctor said most patients with counts below five came in on stretchers. She spent the next five days in the hospital getting blood transfusions because her body had quit producing hers and she was 6 units low. The only reason she agreed to go to the doctor was because she couldn’t make out where the batter was standing at the plate. She was tough.

Kasie’s headaches got very painful those last few weeks but she never quit. Two days before she went into the hospital she was still pitching for CG Technologies and she hit a home run, the biggest deal the company ever closed. She was tough!!