When Blair Harkey began playing softball at 8 years old, the competitive nature of the game was nothing new to her.
She had grown accustomed to playing with her sister Brittany, who was one year older and equally passionate for the sport.
“We always just pushed each other,” Harkey said. “And she’s a year older than me, so growing up playing with her, playing in the yard, was probably the most competitive thing for me early on.”
The backyard battles benefited the sisters, as they played together in high school and on traveling teams, and both eventually got a shot to play college softball.
Brittany just finished her softball career at Queens University in Charlotte, while Blair is in the midst of her senior season with the N.C. State softball team.
With the team losing nine players from last season’s team to graduation, Harkey has inherently become a leader on this year’s team, as one of five seniors. According to sophomore Allison Presnell, Harkey has become the older sister to this season’s young team.
“She’s the heartbeat of our team,” Presnell said. “She’s always the encouraging one, the positive one that you can hear over everybody in the field when we’re out there. She’s kind of the instructor to the outfield.”
And just as Harkey’s older sister instilled a competitive spirit in her, Harkey’s teammates notice the example she sets.
“She makes diving catches every day in practice,” Presnell said. “She works hard, and she always looks to make you better and expects high expectations out of you, no matter what year you are.”
According to fellow senior Shanna Smith, a first-team All-ACC shortstop last season, Harkey has evolved into more of a vocal leader throughout her career.
“We were two of the quiet ones,” Smith said. “We just came out and with the seniors leaving, it was easier to step into that role and not worry about last year, but to step into a new year. I think coach expects it from us. But we do it more in practice, so it’s coming naturally.”
Harkey said it wasn’t until this past summer that she realized her time had come to take the reigns as a leader on the team. More prevalent on her mind, she said, was seeing her friends graduate and move on.
“I guess I felt a little pressure, but I was kind of living in the moment too,” Harkey said. “A lot of my best friends were on the team last year, so I was more afraid to lose friends than worried about a leadership role. But it kind of hit me this summer that this is it. This is my time to be a leader.”
Although the leadership role is an adjustment for Harkey, significant playing time is not. Last season, Harkey was one of four players to start every game for the Pack, and she played in all 63 games in the outfield.
She scored 21 runs and had six runs batted in last season, but Harkey said she sees her defensive presence in the outfield as her main strength.
“I’m more of a defensive player,” Harkey said. “I’m more of a move the runners, get the bunts down type of hitter. But defensively, that’s why I’m in there.”
Harkey is also there to send a message to her younger teammates this season.
“I don’t lower my expectations by any means, just because we’re young,” Harkey said. “But I want this team to realize that no one limits us but ourselves.”
