The Star is profiling Southern Arizona high school athletes whose seasons were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Each high school was asked to nominate an exceptional spring sport athlete who exemplifies greatness on and off the field, court or track.
If you follow softball in Southern Arizona, this isn’t the first time you’ve encountered the name Carlie Scupin.
Insiders first heard about her when she was just a kid, rising through the ranks in club softball.
Others discovered Scupin in 2016, when she committed to the University of Arizona softball team during her freshman year at Tucson High.
By November, when she officially signed her national letter of intent to play for the Wildcats as Tucson’s most highly-ranked softball prospect since Canyon del Oro’s Kenzie Fowler in 2006, Scupin’s name was impossible to miss.
“She’s one of those kids that leads by example in a lot of ways,” said her Tucson High softball coach, Bert Otero. “She has that can-do attitude or approach to everything she does, and it’s just a matter of when she’s going to do it.”
Scupin entered her senior season as the reigning Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year, with 41 career home runs and season batting averages of .683, .619 and .553. Scupin was recruited by the UA to play first base but she also pitches, with Otero saying she was a strong closer.
Scupin was a coach’s dream, said Otero, who got his start coaching softball at Desert View High School 35 years ago. Otero remained at Desert View until 2014, when he retired, but that didn’t stick. He came out of retirement last year and was thrilled at the chance to coach at his alma mater.
Otero said she was instantly impressed with Scupin’s passion for softball and her performance on the field — even at practice.
“She was always that kid out between the lines giving it her best shot and making a difference,” Otero said. “Carlie is a great student-athlete, in that order too, but she’s also such a good person. There’s a lot of balance to Carlie.”
With Scupin’s senior year already in the rear-view mirror — TUSD allowed seniors to stop school if they were satisfied with their grades, and she was — she’s focusing entirely on college.
Carlie Scupin, left, and Kelli Samorano look at each others’ letters following a signing day ceremony at Tucson High School. Scupin, a power-hitting first baseman, will play for the Arizona Wildcats.
“I’m going in as a business law major,” Scupin said. “I don’t know exactly what I want to do, might find a different major. I just know I want to do something involved in sports.
“I don’t want to be a coach, but I want to give back to athletes and be a resource to athletes like I had in my life.”
Scupin, 18, said that she’s seen how sports can present people with opportunities, and she wants to be a part of that.
She’s preparing for the 2021 UA softball season, too. There’s a batting cage in her backyard and plenty of other equipment at her house, allowing Scupin to stay sharp in the time of of social distancing.
She’s also been doing yoga twice a week, taking classes over Zoom with a longtime trainer.
Scupin said she’s disappointed that the Badgers didn’t get the chance to make another state playoff run — they advanced to the Class 6A state semifinals as a No. 12 seed last year — but is grateful for the memories.
“Semifinals last year was so much fun,” Scupin said of her time with the Badgers. “We started off the year really slow. We had a bad start and turned it around and made it to the semifinals. Fighting in the state playoffs, that was definitely my best memory from high school.”
She’s hopeful that stay-at-home restrictions will be lifted in time to play club softball this summer, since nationals don’t typically take place until the end of July.
Until then, she’s engaging in plenty of Zoom meetings and group chats with her teammates.
Carlie Scupin hugs coach Bert Otero during an impromptu goodbye ceremony following the Badgers’ 5-0 win over Sabino in March. The season was canceled days later.
“I can’t wait to have a team practice with someone other than my dad,” Scupin said, laughing. “Any kind of practice or game or getting back on the field with my friends, whether it’s the Tucson High girls or my club team.”
