ACA softball star Warrick signs with Northwest Florida State
ACA’S Izzy Warrick signed a scholarship with Northwest Florida State on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Izzy Warrick knew as one of the top softball players in the state she would have an opportunity to sign with a college, but that didn’t lessen the excitement of the Alabama Christian Academy senior’s signing ceremony on Wednesday.
“It’s so surreal, seeing all my friends that support me and care for me,” she said, “and my coaches show up and it feels really great to know I’ve had their support all these years.”
Warrick elected to sign with Northwest Florida State College on Wednesday, spending a year or two with the Raiders before making the transition to a four-year college.
At Northwest Florida, she will have the opportunity to play at one of the top junior college programs in the country. Head coach Andy Lee, noted for turning around the fortunes of LSU-Eunice, has spent the last five seasons at Northwest Florida, guiding the Raiders to a 115-17 record over the past two seasons, including a berth in the junior college World Series championship game in 2023 and the consolation semifinals last year.
“I just love the environment,” Warrick said. “Everybody was super, super nice when I went on a visit. The coach is really great, along with his assistant coaches. It just feels family friendly and a God-centered place and that’s where I wanted to be.”
Warrick has been the backbone of the ACA softball program the past three years as the Eagles’ pitching ace, but will give up that responsibility when she enters junior college.
“They told me (they wanted me) primarily as a utility player,” she said, “so shortstop, second base, outfield. He said I would be in the pitching rotation but not as much.”
Currently, Warrick is playing guard for the girls’ basketball team, but is looking forward to her final season with ACA softball. She helped the Eagles to a fourth-place finish in the state tournament as an eighth grader, then to the regional finals in 2022 and 2023 before pitching ACA back into the state tournament last season.
Spenser Cantrell, Warrick’s basketball coach and an assistant coach on the softball team, called Warrick “one of the hardest working female athletes I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching.”
In the circle last season, Warrick was 11-5 with a 1.97 earned-run average, striking out 155 batters in 131 innings, but she also excels at shortstop -- she was charged with five errors last season in 109 chances -- and is the leading batter on the team with a .413 batting average, also ranking first in hits (45), runs (51) and doubles (16) and third in RBIs (28).
She didn’t seem to mind giving up her duties in the circle to concentrate on the middle infield in junior college.
“I’ve done it for so long,” she said. “It’s OK to give up pitching and go to another thing or give up the other thing for pitching. I’m OK with it.”