WOODVILLE — Caroline Walker’s immediate impact on the Southern Mississippi softball team this past season didn’t go unnoticed.

Walker, a former standout at Wilkinson County Christian Academy, led the team in batting with a .338 average. She also led USM in on-base percentage (.403) and slugging percentage (.448) — a performance that landed her to the Conference USA All-Freshman team and earned her a selection as the top freshman in the conference by CollegeSportsMaddness.com.

“It’s a good feeling,” the USM shortstop said. “I wasn’t expecting anything like that. I just worked really hard this year and kind of stepped up. I really wanted to go in there and try to help turn the program around.”

The Golden Eagles finished the regular season 13-34 with a Conference USA record of 4-19, and Walker said she knew what she was getting into when she signed with USM.

“They weren’t winning a whole lot of games, and I think they just need some people to come in and be leaders,” Walker said.

That’s a role she was used to at WCCA, Walker said, but she admitted there’s an added challenge in trying to help lead as a true freshman.

“My coach told me when I came in that he wasn’t going to let me act as a freshman,” Walker said. “I would have to play like a four-year veteran from my freshman year on up, so I just kind of had to learn that mentality and get through it and learn how to play that way.”

Even if she did get the hang of it, Walker said there were quite a few bumps in the road when she first started.

“It was hard at first, but it got a lot better,” Walker said. “My coach is really good at helping me to get that mentality.

“I just knew all this hard work would pay off in the end, and I knew that if I kept pushing through it, I would get a good outcome.”

The All-Freshman team wasn’t on Walker’s mind when she started the season, she said, since she prefers to focus on the process of working hard.

“When I was first recruited there, I didn’t know how much I’d be playing or all that, so my main mindset was, I want to play, I want to start and I want to play shortstop,” Walker said.

“I just worked really hard to try to (reach that goal). As far as awards, I just try to work hard, and whatever happens, happens.”

Walker also said she was open to doing whatever the coaches wanted, but she had her heart set on playing shortstop the moment she stepped on campus.

“It’s a hard position to play,” Walker said. “You just have to be really quick. It’s my position, I’m really good at it, and I’ve just liked it there since I was little. I was a pitcher some at WCCA, but I definitely like shortstop a lot more.”

With her freshman year over, Walker said she’s going to try as hard as she can to avoid any sophomore slumps.

“I’m just going to work hard at everything I did this year, put in more work, and just let it happen,” Walker said. “I think the main thing is to just keep out of that slump is to be relaxed and have fun playing the game.”

In the meantime, Walker is spending her summer working at Sports Center, a place she always used to visit when she was young.

“I really like being up here around these people, and I’ve been in here ever since I was little, buying stuff for softball,” Walker said.