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(This is the second of three stories on Riverbender.com/Edglentoday.com Athletes of the Year: Edwardsville’s A.J. Epenesa, Calhoun’s Grace Baalman and Alton’s LaJarvia Brown).
HARDIN - Since she was a freshman in high school, Calhoun’s Grace Baalman has accomplished milestone after milestone and incredible feats.
Another big mark was eclipsed last week in the Jersey Holiday Tourney when she broke Christi Longnecker’s all-time Calhoun girls basketball scoring record of 1,988 points against Jersey. She finished the game over the 2,000-career pointsmark, an astounding accomplishment for a high school basketball player.
Last year, she was part of Calhoun’s state championship girls basketball team. She has signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Kentucky and play softball.
Aaron Baalman, Grace’s basketball coach, said she is “a great athlete.”
“Grace never has anything bad to say and it is team first for her,” he said. “That says a lot about her character. I am really proud of her.”
Calhoun has won back-to-back state titles in softball with Grace on the mound. Grace has 1,392 strikeouts in her softball career. She had 589 strikeouts as a pitcher last year. She hit over .500 last year at the plate.
These are some comments from Grace after the game with Jersey and topping 2,000 career basketball points:
ABOUT HITTING THE 2,000-POINT ECHELON: “It feels pretty good. When you get 1,000 points as early as I did you start thinking about 2,000 points. I will always think about how much the team helped me get there and what a good family it has been playing here.”
HOW DO YOU JUGGLE THREE SPORTS, SUMMER SOFTBALL ACADEMICS, BAND, ETC.: “Sometimes it is hard going to practice every day of your life, but it is fun and you always get to meet a lot of people. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
GOALS FOR 2017 AT CALHOUN: “I want to see us get back to Redbird Arena in basketball and give it another run to win state in softball.”
GOALS FOR FUTURE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: “I want to go to college at Kentucky and play softball. I want to continue to play softball as long as I can. I know going to the University of Kentucky is a good fit; I knew right away when I visited the college.”
COMMENTS ABOUT HER HIGH SCHOOL COACHES: “They have all supported me tremendously. I couldn’t have asked for more than they have done.”
Madelaine Gerard also contributed to this story.
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