Since her sophomore year, it was a foregone conclusion that Smackover’s Karli Goocher would play college softball someday. Where she would play was the only mystery.
That’s no longer a question as the senior signed Thursday to play at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.
Lindenwood is a NCAA Division II program. Goocher verbally committed in October.
“I feel like Lindenwood is a good fit for me. They have almost everything I have been looking for in a school,” said Goocher. “I say (almost) everything because the school is, like, eight hours away so that's going to be a little difficult. But, I'll make it work. Also, one of my teammates, Whitney Kinser is going there as well, so it won't be that bad since I have her.”
Goocher had other offers, including a Division I from Morehead State University. Henderson State and NAIA Benedictine University (Kansas) also offered and she had interest from UC Riverside, Pittsburgh State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Eastern Illinois and Southern University.
“I decided to commit to Lindenwood because I like the coaching staff and the players. Also, the school is beautiful, and the facilities are really nice,” she said.
As a junior, Goocher batted .417 with 10 home runs.
After playing in the outfield as a freshman, she moved to catcher, where she excelled to the point of earning News-Times Defensive Player of the Year honors a year ago. Goocher allowed just two passed balls while handling three different pitchers. She threw out seven runners trying to steal and picked off two at first base and another at third.
“They recruited me primarily as a catcher but also liked my versatility and my bat,” she said.
“By the way, Coach Kelly, Coach Griffin, Coach Ashli, and Coach Sam are pretty freaking awesome. I can't wait to be coached by them.”
Lindenwood coach Liz Kelly reciprocated those feelings.
“We are very excited to have Karli in our program. We saw her play last summer and, boy, we were on her. She brings a great bat to the lineup and she is a slick catcher, quick, good arm. She’s a well-rounded player. I suspect she’ll play a lot of games for us early in her career. I think she’ll have a great career at Lindenwood,” Kelly said.
“Her family, too, was so outstanding. I love her demeanor. She’s light and airy and smart and quick. She’s just the total package. We’re really, really excited to have her.”
Goocher played with So Cal Athletics, a travel team over the summer. She also made the rounds, taking visits to colleges. The recruiting process turned out to be a bit of a grind.
“I started the recruiting process a little late. Whereas most people start in the beginning of high school or before, I started the fall season of my junior year,” she explained. “For me, the recruiting process was really stressful. Not only did I start late, I thought too late in the process. But, it also was a big change going from playing in local tournaments with no college coaches to far away tournaments playing in front of a lot of college coaches. When I first got with So Cal Athletics, I was excited. The thought of me finally getting the opportunity to show college coaches my abilities was an exciting thought. Until my first tournament. I was so stressed out. All I could focus on was the college coaches that were watching. I thought that I couldn't mess up. Thankfully, I realized that I could mess up. It was just how I recovered from my mess ups was what really mattered.
“To help me calm down I would tell myself that whatever happens, happens. I told myself that I didn't have to be perfect. I just had to go out there and play ball and God will take care of the rest. One thing I did like about the recruiting process was that it helped me fully trust in God and trust in His plan. He truly did help me get through this stressful time. He put some pretty amazing people in my life to help me go through the process.”