Jessie Howard Hall, FHS 2006, a C-N Hall of Famer
JEFFERSON CITY — The second youngest among eight who were inducted into Carson-Newman University’s Sports Hall of Fame Friday evening, Jan. 20, Jessie Howard Hall stole 143 bases in 149 career attempts for the C-N Softball program, an astounding 96 percent success rate.
A two-time All-South Atlantic Conference honoree who led her team in hits, steals, runs scored and triples — as a freshman — this former Farragut Lady Admirals star third baseman (Class of 2006) went on to lead the conference in hits, runs scored and stolen bases as a Lady Eagles sophomore (moved from third to shortstop) with a team-leading .454 batting average.
Hall also earned All-American honors as a sophomore in 2008.
While it would be more of the same as an upperclassman at C-N, Hall harkens back to high school to pinpoint key lessons learned.
Putting aside her All-American times as one of the top Aqua Ads on the FHS swim and dive team, Hall recalled the importance of one softball drill, which she said was a “particular favorite” of her high head coach, David Moore: outfielders and infielders alike had to “follow a specific throwing pattern around the field for a certain number of rounds.
“As a freshman, I remember participating in that drill for the first time and being extremely nervous, not wanting to be the little freshman who dropped the ball, forcing the entire team to start the drill over,” the Hall of Famer added.
“As the years went on, I learned that to complete the drill you had to be focused, positive and have perfect fundamentals. That drill helped us get game-ready.”
As a result, “I was prepared to play at the next level because of simple drills like these, and because of coach Moore’s overall standard of excellence for his athletes.”
Junior, senior at C-N
As a junior at C-N, Hall led the league in runs scored and triples, and again lead her team in hits, walks earned and stolen bases while recording 125 assists at shortstop.
Closing out her Lady Eagles career in 2010, Hall‘s .385 average was tops on her team, as was her 65 hits, four triples, 43 runs scored and 33 steals.
