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Wright St. on deck for Irish slugger
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Macey Gunther of Ursuline poses for a headshot during softball practice on Thursday afternoon at the WATTS training facility at Youngstown State.
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
It might surprise some that the daughter of a high school basketball coach is extremely passionate for a spring sport.
What Ursuline High senior shortstop Macey Gunther loves about softball is the intensity she feels is required to excel and the dirt.
“I like to dive for balls and get dirty,” said Gunther who is one of the Irish’s two four-year starters this season. “I like to do all that.
“In basketball, you don’t really get to do that,” said Gunther who also played for the Ursuline girls basketball team. “You get sweaty but you don’t get dirty.”
Gunther, the shortstop, is eager for her final varsity season to begin. Second baseman Anny Carroll also is a four-year starter.
“I think we’re going to be really good,” Gunther said of the Irish who have eight starters returning. “I hope we can win another district and we can make it all the way to state.
“That would be so awesome.”
A career .530 hitter, Gunther has accepted a scholarship to play for Wright State University in Dayton.
“I really like the coaching staff — they are really intense and I thought that was a really cool thing,” said Gunther of Raiders head coach Lynn Curylo and assistants Dave Brittingham and Dawnjene DeLong.
“They were really hard on me at all of the camps and they were encouraging, and I really liked that,” Gunther said. “I also liked their facilities at Wright State. I’m just really excited to go there.”
Her scholarship is no ordinary accomplishment — not many position players earn them.
Michael Kernan, Ursuline’s head coach, said Gunther’s commitment to playing for the Cincinnati Doom travel team has paid off.
“It certainly exposed her skills to a lot more [college] coaches,” Kernan said. “Her strengths are her bat, her speed, and her work ethic.”
In summer ball, Gunther also plays in the outfield. She’s not sure what he position will be at Wright State.
“When they saw me at the camps, I was playing in the outfield,” said Gunther of the Wright State coaches. “I made a diving catch and that’s kind of what caught their eye.”
For now, she’s happy patrolling in the Irish infield.
“I like that you get to [make plays on] steals at second an third,” she said of playing shortstop. “I like those big open spaces that you can dive for balls.
“When a runner is one first and the throw is coming from the catcher, I love tagging them.”
Gunther earned Second Team All-Northeast Ohio honors in 2011 and 2012. Last season, she hit six homers for the Irish who defeated South Range, 2-1, in the Division III district championship game. In the regional semifinal, LaBrae defeated Ursuline, 10-2.
Gunther considered offers from North Carolina Central and Youngstown State University as well as Division II and III schools.
Going away played a role in her decision.
“I do want to get out more,” said Gunther, noting that Ursuline is “right across the street” from YSU.
Gunther plans to study for a degree in business hospitality and has a plan for when her athletic days are over.
“I want to own a restaurant, I want to call it ‘Stitches’ — a sports bar and grill,” Gunther said. “Stitches [are] on a softball — I like that idea.”
Gunther’s father, Keith, is Ursuline’s boys varsity basketball coach.
“I’m really close with [his players],” Gunther said. “They guys are sort of like my brothers — they look out for me. So that’s really cool.”
Her mother, Jill, also was an athlete growing up in Middlefield. She played softball and volleyball at Cardinal High.
“They both have helped me a lot,” said Gunther who lives in Braceville. “They would wake up early for [summer games] and put balls on the tee.”
Gunther began playing travel ball at the 12U level with the Thunder Elite. Two years ago, she decided that softball was the sport she hoped to play in college.
“Probably my sophomore year I really knew that [softball] was what I wanted [to pursue],” Gunther said. “I started going to camps and really working hard at it.”
She said having a dad who coaches has helped her develop perspective.
“He knows how to coach me [in conjunction] with other coaches,” Gunther said. “If a coach is yelling at me and I get frustrated, he always knew what to say.
“He always used to tell me that if a coach isn’t yelling at you, then he’s not looking at you. If they are not yelling at you, that’s when you should be worried.”
Maybe that’s why her literature class taught by Mary Bess George is her favorite this year.
“I like the way she teaches — she definitely runs the classroom and I really like that about her,” Gunther said. “She takes a stand, but she’s really cool with us and really understanding.
“I really like that about her.”