“She has a drive. That, for her, is something great for my other kids to see what you can do when you’re determined and want to succeed.”

Centralia softball head coach Liz Bostick said this about center fielder Autumn Hawkins following the announcement of the senior as a Class 3 second-team all-state outfielder. Hawkins flourished as the team’s leadoff hitter, tying the school record for hits in a season at 50 and setting the school season and career steal records at 37 and 85. She is the program’s first all-state player since Jozelynn Bostick and Ella Holiman in 2020 and the school’s first all-state outfielder since Lynsie Curtis in 2019.

Liz Bostick, who has known and coached Hawkins since she was 5- or 6-years-old playing T-ball and through competitive softball in middle school, said Hawkins made a jump this year by using a “drop the ball and go” strategy instead of doing any “power slapping.” Hawkins has the speed and athleticism that reaching base was all but a certainty when she used finesse.

“We were looking to score her early,” Bostick said. “A lot of times, we were either moving her with no outs and then we were scoring her. Speed kills in our sport, especially at the high school level. She’s just one of those kids that has a ton of speed, and I think that works to her advantage.”

In a season when the Lady Panthers finished second in their district while only being shut out twice all year, Hawkins ranked second on the team in batting average at .450 and on-base percentage while ranking first in hits and owning the team-high in singles and steals by a wide margin — her 49 singles were 11 more than second-place and her 37 steals were 17 ahead.

Bostick recalls Centralia having runners on second and third base in a game this season against Moberly and Hawkins being intentionally walked, factoring into her team-high total of 15 walks.

“That’s interesting you would intentionally walk a slapper. It just doesn’t happen,” Bostick said. “The biggest stat for her was the stolen base. I think the reason she got to all-state was really because of her hitting.”

In the field, Hawkins’ quickness was used in the more spacious center field, covering even the left- and right-centerfield gaps this year, Bostick said, and thriving in left field last year when it was determined more balls were being hit there. Her arm that notched three outfield assists this season prevented runners from advancing to bases as well.

Bostick said Hawkins was above-average in many facets of the game because of how athletic she is and remembers convincing her of that early in her life.

“It was getting her to understand her athletic ability a lot of times and getting her to put that forth,” Bostick said. “Autumn’s one of those kids that gets in her head a lot and takes stuff to heart way too much on what she personally is doing. It’s getting her to understand she needs to be coached and it’s OK to make mistakes and also just to put her athleticism out there because she’s one of those kids that has a ton of it.”

Hawkins ended her high school career strong as well, carrying a five-game multi-hit streak and then a seven-game hitting streak into Oct. 10, when it was snapped by Bowling Green and first-team all-state pitcher Megan Graver.

Hawkins will have track and field season to look forward to in the spring as she is one of several Lady Panthers that won’t play for Bostick next year, which makes Bostick sad but grateful for what Hawkins has given to the program.

“We’re going to miss her — that kid who was our leadoff that could come up and just get on base and could just steal around,” Bostick said. “You get a few of those every now and then, but in softball, we don’t always get the tracksters that can really fly and she was just one of those kids that did that for us.

“She’s one of those kids that just comes out every day and puts her heart out on the field for us. That’s a great leadership thing for kids to see and to observe.”