Carrier Mills-Stonefort senior awarded softball scholarship

Casey Crowder, a senior at the Carrier Mills-Stonefort high school, has been awarded a softball scholarship to Southeastern Illinois College.

Crowder signed the scholarship papers at the high school on Friday afternoon with her proud parents looking on.

Having begun playing T-Ball at age 5, "Casey has been into sports all her life," said Brad Crowder, Casey's father.

Crowder concentrated on volleyball and softball in her years at the Carrier Mill-Stonefort schools, and she says her favorite position in softball is catcher. Donn Gines, head softball coach at SIC, said he was looking forward to Crowder joining the SIC team.

"Crowder already is used to playing catcher, so she should allow us to field to strong catchers on our team," Gines stated.

Crowder plans to begin the pre-pharmacy program at SIC and her goal is to become a pharmacist. After SIC, Crowder hopes to attend Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Crowder is excited about entering the next phase of her life but admits she feels slightly nervous.

"I'm really happy about this," Crowder said adding, "But I'm a little nervous too."