Kacie Wentworth's freshman season ended with her name at the top of Canton's record books in nearly every statistical category.

As a pitcher, she struck out a single-season school record 235 batters, set the lowest earned runs allowed by a pitcher at 15, pitched six shutouts and accumulated 22 wins. Her win total bested Colleen Donnelly's previous mark by seven.

Wentworth was nearly as lethal at the plate. She smacked 41 hits and collected 47 RBIs — both school records — and batted nearly .500 on the season.

"She breathes the game," Canton softball coach Wayne Willette said. "The numbers she threw up were pretty darn good for a freshman."

Her play in her first varsity season earned her the Times All-North NAC MVP.

This kind of output is a result of a life surrounded by sports and two parents who competed at the Division I college level at Wichita State University.

Her mom, Carla, played tennis, while her dad, Mike, was a baseball player. Mike has coached Kacie's teams since she started playing, while Carla continues to help her eat right and stay in shape in the offseason.

"It's tough because they expect so much out of you," Kacie said. "But when you look back at it, you're really glad that they are because it makes you a better athlete."

Willette agreed and values the experience and expertise provided by Wentworth's parents.

"A coach can't do it all during the season," he said. "Mike and Carla have gone above and beyond the call of duty. They've allowed (Kacie) to go to the next level at a very young age."

Now that Mike isn't her coach at games anymore, he's finding it increasingly more difficult to step back and be the parent.

"I've tried hard to, as soon as practice is over, say, 'All right, now I'm the father and not the coach anymore,'" he said. "I'm not very good at that and she can tell you the same thing. It's hard on her because I'm harder on her and have much more expectations of her than I do with anybody else."

The pressure to perform doesn't seem to weigh too heavily on Wentworth, who doesn't let much affect her play on the field.

"I think that's why she's so successful," Willette said. "She just goes game by game. She doesn't get rattled."

Wentworth remains humble and didn't take credit for the successes of her team, which made it to the state quarterfinals. Canton was the only Section 10 softball team to make it that far.

"I had a great team behind me," she said. "I was impressed with what we did."

Individually, Wentworth will have a lot of eyes on her next season to see how she follows up such an impressive freshman year.

"It's going to be hard to break my own records for next year," she said. "The one that I really want to break next year is the earned runs."

She's going to be chasing herself for the school records, but with her drive and work ethic, she could threaten some of the long-standing Section 10 records by the end of her career.

No one is looking that far down the road yet, but if her freshman year is any indication, the next three years will be special to watch.

"Just to do what she's done this year is amazing," Willette said. "We just hope her love of the game carries her and she just loves softball."