Athletes Of The Week: Charlie Montgomery

It is never easy for a student-athlete to attend multiple high schools throughout his or her athletic career.

However, Eastern Wayne’s Charlie Montgomery is not only pragmatic but remarkably good-natured about it as well.

Montgomery’s father is in the Air Force, and she spent her freshman season overseas living in Italy before coming to Eastern Wayne as a sophomore.

Montgomery is moving to Tampa, Fla., later this summer, so she will attend three high schools in four years but has enjoyed her time at Eastern Wayne.

‘It’ll be the 11th different place that I’ve lived in,” Montgomery said. “I’ve enjoyed it here. It’s a small town, but I like the people, and I like the people that I play sports with.”

Montgomery’s main sport is softball, but she also plays volleyball and runs track. And this season, she is the starting second baseman for the Eastern Wayne baseball team.

During her sophomore year, she participated in winter workouts with the baseball team. This season, Eastern Wayne head baseball coach Randell Fields asked she wanted to play on the baseball team.

“When season rolled around and the seasons were different, softball was before baseball, he (coach Fields) asked if I wanted to play because they were short on people and needed someone to play utility, so I agreed because why not,” Montgomery said. “It’s been difficult to switch over because the physics are different and there are different rules, but it’s been good.

“It’s been a learning experience, and I’m glad I did it.”

Montgomery started playing softball at six years old, and she quickly fell in love with the game. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she did not get to play softball during her sophomore year but finally got to the field this season.

She is committed to play softball at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. The Division I school is a member of the Southern Conference.

“I went to softball camp last summer, and I met the assistant coach there,” Montgomery said. “We emailed back-and-forth, and it just ended up being the place I wanted to go.”

When she gets to Furman, she plans on majoring in health science and then get a master’s degree in nutrition, so she can one day become a dietician.