The Roland-Story softball team was in dire straits on June 1 against Greene County at the Hennessy Diamonds in Roland.
The Norse went into the bottom of the seventh inning trailing the Rams by a 7-1 score. Freshman Evelyn Carlson stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded looking to turn the tide.
Carlson delivered in a big way. She cleared the bases with a triple and then scored on a Ram error as part of a seven-run rally that gave Roland-Story an 8-7 victory.
That clutch hit and base running were prime examples of why Carlson has become one of the premier leadoff hitters in Class 3A.
“She’s an insanely good hitter,” said Roland-Story pitcher Miley Geise. “She could be our No. 1 hitter or No. 4 hitter. I have so much faith in her when she goes up to hit because I know she’s going to hit the crap out of the ball.”
Carlson is a big reason Roland-Story is in contention with 2A No. 1 Grand View Christian and 3A No. 6 Prairie City-Monroe for the Heart of Iowa Conference championship.
Carlson came up last year as an eighth-grader. It was evident right away that she was going to be a star in the making.
Carlson hit .312 with seven doubles, one triple, three home runs, 17 runs and 12 RBIs in 2025. She was also second on the team in steals with 12.
On defense, Carlson played some shortstop last year. But, much to her liking, her main position was in center field.
“I like that I don’t get as many grounders, because I do not like grounders,” said Carlson. “I like to run.”
This year Carlson has taken her game to another level.
How Carlson is putting together a breakout freshman season
She went into Roland-Story’s June 25 game against Grand View Christian hitting .389 with nine doubles, two triples, three home runs, 22 runs and 16 RBIs through 21 games.
Carlson can do it all at the plate.
She is great at getting on base — her on-base percentage is .457. She also has great wheels, as shown by her huge hit in the comeback win over Greene County.
Carlson also brings a power dynamic to the plate that most teams do not get from the leadoff spot. Carlson loves it when she makes good contact with a pitch.
“Usually when I hit it over the fence, I can sense the ball going over,” Carlson said. “The bat sound and the ball sound and the way that it’s traveling, I can just tell.”
But as much as that power hitting adds to the team’s production, it is the rest of her skills as a hitter that make Carlson such a weapon from the leadoff spot.
“The nice thing about Evelyn is she’s got quick hands,” said Roland-Story coach Amber Doyle. “She’s going to give you a competitive at-bat every single time. She knows she can foul a lot of pitches off, and that gives her a chance to drive the ball deep in counts. In that leadoff spot we get to see a lot of pitches too, which is great for the rest of the hitting order.”
A comforting presence in center field
Carlson’s speed is also a great weapon to have on defense. She has made 19 putouts and two assists through a 1-0 win over West Marshall on June 24 at Roland.
Having Carlson roaming the outfield makes Geise’s life a lot easier as a pitcher. When she is not pitching, Geise plays next to Carlson in left field, so she can see first-hand how skilled her freshman teammate is at tracking down balls.
“She is insanely fast,” Geise said. “She can get to any ball in center field. I have so much faith in her.”
Playing beyond her years
Carlson has been a little taken aback by the season she has put together.
“I was surprised at the beginning because I had a really good batting average, and I didn’t think I was doing that well,” Carlson said. “Just looking at my stats, they were better than I expected.”
It did not surprise Doyle.
“You can’t make somebody be older and more experienced — they’re the grade they are,” Doyle said. “But it’s easy to forget she’s a freshman because she does cover so much ground and she can physically do so many things. I think she’s hit a point where she is a lot more confident in what she can do.”
Her play has helped Roland-Story make a big jump as a team.
The Norse were 12-16 last year and they have not had a winning season since going 20-10 in 2022. That will change this year as Roland-Story went into the GVC game at 16-5 overall and 9-3 in the HOIC.
The Roland-Story softball team is trying to keep up with a Norsemen baseball team that is 27-1 and ranked No. 2 in 2A.
“Every time they have a win, we think we need to get the next win,” said Carlson.
A bright future
With her success this season, Carlson has fully embraced softball. She loves going on overnight camping trips, doing other activities with her teammates, and building great chemistry with them on and off the field.
But most of all, she just loves playing the game.
“I like the competitiveness of it,” Carlson said. “I’m really competitive and I like to win.”
Carlson hopes to continue bringing great energy to the team as regional play approaches in a couple of weeks. Roland-Story is in 3A Region 1, a region that includes No. 1 Williamsburg on the other side of the bracket.
She wants to help Roland-Story earn a chance to upset the Raiders and punch its ticket to state for the first time since placing second in 3A during the 2018 state softball tournament.
Her goals for the rest of the year are simple.
“Not getting in my head and putting too much pressure on myself,” Carlson said. “For the whole team, I would just say play for everybody, like we’ve already been doing, and make sure we’re doing the little things right.”
No matter how the season finishes, the future looks very bright for Carlson.
“The thing that’s nice is that she’s having success and can build another success and another success, and the more of those she has the more confident she can be in her play,” Doyle said. “It’s only to get better from here.”
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Meet Evelyn Carlson, a freshman sensation on the Roland-Story SB team
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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By Joe Randleman, Ames Tribune | USA TODAY Network
