May 17, 2018
By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - Every time an Auburn softball player reaches first base, she is greeted by one of the best to ever play for the Tigers.
Emily Carosone, a three-time All-American, coaches first base for Auburn, one of many roles she fills as the Tigers' volunteer assistant coach.
"My job is to make sure the girls get to second safely and stay safe at first," Carosone said.
During practices, Carosone works with Auburn's catchers and helps assistant coach Annie Smith with infielders, something that comes easily to a player who started 251 games in Auburn's infield from 2013-16.
"Going to a practice anytime is honestly what I enjoy," she said. "I like seeing the girls get better. I like seeing the drive because I love softball, and I love seeing that being portrayed by other players on our team.
"I learn something new every day. I love it, even on the bad days, because I'm still learning. I love being out there, and learning and making me sharper, the girls sharper. I just love softball."
This season reaffirmed Carosone's commitment to enter the coaching profession.
"I want to coach," she said. "I'm good at it. When you grow up playing softball your whole life from 9 years old to 21, 22 years old, what better job than to do something I was good at and loved each and every day?"
Emily earned her master's degree in adult education, graduating in the spring semester.
"The best part was seeing my family and how proud they were," she said.
Her classroom studies are complete, but Emily's education is ongoing, with Auburn softball head coach Mickey Dean and assistants Smith and Eddy Ketelhut serving as instructors.
"My favorite part about coaching with this staff is sitting in the meetings after practice or after games, before practice, before games," she said. "That's when my mind opens up. That is something I never got to experience as a player and no player really gets to experience that. Now, being on the coaching side, I learn so much just in those situations.
"I get to take something from each and every coach who I played for, that I have coached with. They're great coaches."
'When I'm a head coach'
When Auburn's season concludes, Carosone will return to Chicago for her third season with the Bandits in National Pro Fastpitch.
"Emily, with her experience, whether we win or whether we lose or how we play, she's able to give great reflection because it's really fresh to her," Dean said. "She's still playing."
Auburn's career record holder in hits (285) and runs (267), Carosone's status as a program legend resonates with the players she coaches, but Emily wants her credibility to come from her knowledge, not her numbers.
"I want my players to know that I know the game," she said. "It has nothing to do with my ability, but that I know the game and I know how to make you a better softball player.
"I don't want my playing, what I was as a player, to be the final factor in the girls' heads. I want them to listen to what I say, make sense to them, and have them realize in the future, when I'm a head coach, that I do understand the game."
Carosone's head coaching career will wait at least one more season. She's committed to remaining with Auburn in 2019.
"If it was my decision, and I could make the rules, I would stay with Coach Dean and that staff forever," she said. "Because Mickey has been great with me and I have learned so much from Mickey. I really respect Mickey, and if it were my choice, I would stay there as long as I could. He's got my best interest in mind and I know he's got to let me grow."
Her walk-off grand slam to even the championship series at the 2016 Women's College World Series forever endeared Emily Carosone to Auburn fans.
Emily Carosone is Auburn's career leader in hits and runs, including an epic walk-off grand slam in the 2016 Women's College World Series.
"Our chemistry was so good and was why we made it so far," she said. "We were driven. We knew that we may not be the best team out there, but we were going to be the hardest working team out there, and that's what carried us."
Carosone's quest to constantly learn fuels her coaching career, just as it has throughout her playing days.
"In my opinion, I was an average athlete, an average softball player, but I knew the game well enough to be above average. That's my strength."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer