Seizing the opportunity

Courtney Shea has always known she was good enough to be successful at the collegiate level.

She’s proving herself correct in a big way this spring.

Finally shouldered with the opportunity and responsibility of being the primary catcher for the Auburn University softball team, the Mountain Brook native is making the most of it.

“I like it and I like being in that role,” said Shea, now a senior at Auburn.

Through the middle of April Shea had hit for a .315 average with four home runs and 27 RBIs. She has also served as the consistent backstop for Auburn’s pitching staff this season, one that includes Kaylee Carlson and Makayla Martin. Together, they make up one of the top pitching duos in the country.

Shea was able to showcase her offensive abilities during her first three years mainly as a designated player and garnered occasional starts behind the plate. Over those three seasons, she totaled 27 extra base hits and drove in 75 runs as a productive member of the lineup.

Carlee Wallace and Shea came to Auburn the same year and Wallace was the team’s primary starter the last three seasons. But Wallace’s transfer to Baylor opened the door for Shea to shine in her final year. Shea said she “learned a lot” from backing up Wallace and is “glad to be back there for my team” this season.

“Catcher’s a big deal,” she said. “If you lose a catcher, it’s equivalent to losing a center on the football team. It’s helped me a lot [to play every game].”

She is also using her final days at Auburn to pave the way for the next person to wear the catcher’s gear. Freshman Abby Tissier of Hoover and redshirt freshman Breanna Gutierrez are the other two catchers on the Tigers roster.

Shea is one of three seniors on Auburn’s team this season. Along with Carlson and center fielder Victoria Draper, the three have helped guide the Tigers as they transitioned to a new coach this spring in Mickey Dean. Former coach Clint Myers retired in August after four seasons at Auburn. 

“Courtney is a shining example for young women everywhere and is a great role model to have,” said Dean. “It has been a lot of fun getting to know her this year. She’s a wonderful person on and off the field.”

As an all-state catcher at Mountain Brook High, Shea hit for an eye-popping .630 average over her last three seasons, including helping the Spartans to a Class 6A North Central Regional appearance in 2014. 

“Courtney’s a gritty ball player. She expects to win, expects to have good at-bats. She was always coming out there ready to go,” said Kaitlin Griffin, Shea’s coach at Mountain Brook in 2014 and the current softball coach at Oak Mountain. “She knew she was going to have an opportunity to play at the next level and she deserved to be there for sure.”

With a degree in journalism, Shea will graduate in May. But her next stop is currently unknown. She recently got engaged to Braden Smith, an offensive lineman at Auburn who wrapped up his college career earlier this year. He will almost certainly be drafted in one of the first few rounds of the NFL Draft in late April. 

Shea will take the same things from her time at Auburn that she did from her days at Mountain Brook: the relationships with her teammates.

And the knowledge that she was good enough to succeed at thenext level.

“I definitely knew she had the potential to do it,” Griffin said.