NC high school pitcher

Wilkinson chasing third 

Gatorade Player of the Year

NATIONAL PROFILE: This item edited from a longer article posted at ESPN-HS Softball. Click here for the full story.

“'Don't get mad at Alexander Central (Taylorsville, N.C.) senior pitcher Chelsea Wilkinson if she can't recall the last time she gave up a run in a high school softball game... 

Chelsea Wilkins

“During her 10-game shutout streak, Wilkinson has rarely even allowed a ball out of the infield, allowing her Cougars to vault up to fourth in the POWERADE FAB 50 national softball rankings. Such was the case last Thursday, when Wilkinson one-hit J.L. Mann (Greenville, S.C.) in a border battle between the North Carolina and South Carolina defending 4A state champions.

“The victory also served as a colossal milestone for Wilkinson, who earned her 100th win in the contest and inched ever closer to her third Gatorade Player of the Year Award in North Carolina. Last year, she became the first-ever high schooler from the Tar Heel state to win multiple POY hardware from Gatorade and only the third softballer nationally to accomplish the feat.

The Charlotte Observer/Jeff Willhelm 

PHOTO ABOVE: During one stretch this season, Alexander Central's Chelsea Wilkinson sandwiched back-to-back no-hitters and back-to-back one-hitters around a perfect game.

“'I have worked so hard to get to the position I am at today, and it feels good to know it is paying off," said Wilkinson, who has signed with the University of Georgia. "I love setting records and winning awards, but I love being successful even more”...

“'In 2009 I was just trying to earn acceptance and make a name for myself," Wilkinson said. "By my junior year, people knew who I was and what I was capable of, so I had to live up to that." 

DN Pennell, Jr. /The Taylorsville Times

"I love setting records and winning awards," 
Chelsea Wilkinson says. "But I love 
being successful even more."

“You'd need a forklift to set the bar as high as Wilkinson has set it through her first three years of high school. Amazingly, she's still clearing that bar. Through the first 18 games Alexander played (they won 17 of them), Wilkinson has dished out more doughnuts than a rookie cop at a police station's morning meeting. The string of shutouts is at 10 straight games. During the streak, Wilkinson had a stretch in which she hurled back-to-back no-hitters against Hibriten (Lenoir, N.C.) and St. Stephen's (Hickory N.C.), then a perfect game against East Rowan (Salisbury, N.C.), and then back-to-back one-hitters against Fred T. Foard (Newton, N.C.) and Grove City (Ohio). On Monday night, she threw another no-hitter, and got her 101st win, in a 10-0 win over Hickory (N.C.)."

GRAPHIC ABOVE: A quote taken from the Alexander Central softball website, which is Chelsea Wilkinson's high school team