AUBURN, Ala. – Emily Carosone has played in the Women’s College World Series … twice. It was her clutch piece of hitting that secured first place for Team Italy in the 2021 European Championship earlier this month. But she’s about to embark on what might be the crowning achievement of her career to this point – the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
“Going to the Olympics, you have six teams with 15 people on them. That's 90 people in the whole entire world, and I'm one of those 90,” Carosone. “It doesn't make sense to me. It really doesn't. I remember staying up at night thinking, ‘Why me? What was it about me?’ And I believe that it's just to give glory to God. I really do.
“I've had a lot of people ask me, ‘Is this a dream come true for you?’ My honest answer is no. I never had this dream because in reality I never thought it was possible for somebody like me. Honestly, it's a blessing."
For Carosone, who graduated high school in a class of 24, the College World Series might not have seemed possible either, especially after Auburn failed to make the SEC Tournament her freshman year. But the three-time All-American went to Oklahoma City back-to-back years with the Tigers and still stands as the program’s all-time leader in career batting average, hits, runs scored and on-base percentage.
The Olympics will be no different from the College World Series or even from her days of playing in high school. The game hasn’t changed. No matter how the big stage is, it’s still softball.
There is one major difference playing for Team Italy – the language barrier.
“My Italian is bad, very bad,” she joked. “I've learned a few words here and there but not many. Our captain on the team, Erika Piancastelli, is bilingual, and she usually translates everything for me and a couple of the Americans that are on the team. I can honestly say I would not know what's going on if it wasn't for her. I would be completely lost.”