Gilmer High honor graduate Emily Dale helped the Lady Cats return to the state softball tournament as a senior, and next spring she will take the field for the Emmanuel College Lions.
Aside from Emmanuel, Dale was recruited by Truett McConnell University and Georgia Gwinnett College, but neither stood a chance once the Lions were on the scene, and she noted, “I didn’t even try to pursue them once I found Emmanuel.”
Dale recalled her visit to Emmanuel’s Franklin Springs campus, saying, “It reminded me a lot of Ellijay because it felt really homey. It’s a super-small town and the campus is tiny and I absolutely loved it.
“Because I want to be an education major, we went through the education facilities and everything, and I had three or four people (students) come up to me and start talking to me asking if I was visiting. They had this big conversation with me and didn’t even know me, and everyone was so welcoming.”
Dale and her mom Kristie formulated a plan the summer before her junior year while at a University of North Georgia camp. The road map devised eventually led to Emmanuel.
“I went to a UNG camp and my mom said, ‘Let’s put together a video and send it to a bunch of different colleges you might be interested in’ and Emmanuel was one of them,” Dale said. “They had never spoken to me or anything. After I sent my video to them coach (Brock) Radaker immediately said he was interested in me.”
She added, “When I went for my visit I toured the athletic facility and the softball field. We walked into the locker room and he (Radaker) said ‘All I need from you is a video of you running from home to first base and from home to home, and you have a spot on my roster.’
“It just took off from there.”
Making the move
Prior to her days as a college-bound athlete, Dale’s softball future was a bit muddled. She was cut from the team at Clear Creek Middle School, but a change of scenery soon made the difference.
“It (not making the team) changed everything for me,” she said. “Back then I was playing infield, and I just started with my first travel team. I told my (travel) coach I wanted to try the outfield, and if I can’t do it, pull me back in.
“Moving to the outfield, it was like I was meant to be there. It was comfortable and I could do it without hesitation. It completely turned my softball career over, because from that point on, I was a totally different ballplayer.”
In those days, Dale’s travel team was the North Georgia Voltage. The travel scene exposed her to a wide range of players and allowed her to take the field at plenty of weekend tournaments.
“For the first five years, I played with the same group of girls and we were really close,” Dale said. “We were really unbeatable because not only were we talented, we had a great family bond. This past year, I changed teams because I thought I needed a little something better to prepare myself.”
After entering GHS, Dale continued to focus on her softball skills. Practicing two to three days per week for travel ball with Saturdays reserved for tournaments forced her to make decisions, and she often spent time between games completing homework or studying.
“Playing travel ball was hard at first, but softball is my main priority in life,” Dale said. “Everyone who asked me to hang out, I was like, ‘No, softball comes first.’ If I have something softball related that’s where I’ll be.”
Dale played some as freshman at GHS but was expected to have a larger varsity role as a sophomore. However, an injury wiped out her season. She started in the outfield as a junior, and Gilmer posted a 9-13 record.
Dale racked up 21 hits in 54 at-bats for a .389 batting average. She collected 11 RBI, scored 12 runs and stole 10 bases. GHS missed the state tournament for the third straight season, and longtime coach Kim Charles retired at its conclusion.
The idea of playing her senior season for a new head coach did not sit well with Dale initially.
“At first I was begging coach Charles to stay,” she said. “I was so comfortable with the way she did things. She lives right up the road from me and used to bring me home from games before I was driving.
“I was super skeptical about getting a new coach. I was thinking ‘I’m not going to like any coach we get because they’re not going to be coach Charles.’”
Amanda Mullis was hired to take over for Charles, and she teaches first grade at Mountain View Elementary. With Dale’s desire to study education, they had an instant connection and began working off the field together as well.
“She teaches first grade and that’s the classroom setting I want to be in,” Dale said. “I’ve interned there (MVE) several times, and I requested to get into her class so we could work together there. I think that really changed our relationship.
“On the field, we worked really well together and had a great bond. She was an amazing mentor in the classroom. I still babysit her kids for her. We really grew close.”
A strong push at the end of the regular season last fall saw Gilmer sweep archrival Pickens to slip ahead of the Dragonettes in the standings for Region 6-4’s final state tournament spot.
“It was amazing,” Dale said of reaching the postseason. “I didn’t expect this group of girls — and I’m not putting them down or anything — but last year (2018 season) and the year before that we had super-strong teams. If we were going to state any year, it would have been then.
“When we won that game to send us to state I was like ‘Oh my gosh’ and it completely caught me by surprise.”
GHS was defeated by Madison County in the opening round of state, and the Cats finished the season with an 8-18 record.
Dale dealt with a nagging injury most of the year. She finished the season with 67 at-bats, a .284 average, 19 hits and 18 runs scored. She was a perfect 11 for 11 when it came to stolen bases.
Moving on
When asked who the most influential people in her life are when it comes to athletics and academics, Dale pointed to her family.
“From the start, my dad (Eugene) believed in me before I believed in myself,” she said. “He pushed me and got me into softball. We kind of have that love-hate relationship because he’s been so hard on me. I love him to death, but he’s so hard on me I sometimes say, ‘Oh my gosh, why do I even play’ because he made me so mad sometimes. I wouldn’t be as good as I am if he didn’t push me.
“My mom has so much strength. She was diagnosed with breast cancer my sophomore year and it really took a toll on me. I told my travel teammates about it one day and they all picked me up and were so supportive. The strength she showed hit me hard, and I strive hard to be that person.”
Dale added, “My older sister (Amanda) caught for me for every pitching lesson. She’d go out in the yard with me and hit pop ups and all kinds of stuff. She really helped me improve my skills.”
Dale noted that Emmanuel lost some starting and reserve outfielders off last season’s team and there “is a possibility” she plays next season.
“It’s crazy,” she said of the prospects of seeing the field immediately. “I didn’t expect to be put in that position my freshman year of college. When I was in middle school, I didn’t make the team my seventh grade year. Now that I’m playing in college — after I was pushed aside when I was younger — I’m a totally different ballplayer now.”
Emmanuel is a private, Christian, liberal arts college affiliated with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. The Lions compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division II as members of the Conference Carolinas.