Lady Rabbs Dominating Pitcher Enters
by Gordon Pynes

When she walked toward the softball pitchers’ circle for the first game in the Lady Rabbs 2000 season little did she or her opponents know what was ahead for this freshman. What followed through the 2003 season was an amazing performance by Casi Hendricks. Married now as Casi Blackburn I’ll use her maiden name to relate her softball career and on into her college years. Casi has been selected to enter the Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025. The induction ceremony will be on October 3rd prior to the game kickoff between Atlanta and Jefferson.

Over the next four years (2000-2003) she would compile a pitching record of 82 wins and only 13 losses. During that stretch at Atlanta High School Casi recorded at least four no-hitters. Playing first base when not pitching she was a potent hitter maintaining a .350 batting average.
 

Hendricks got an early start to softball as she remembers playing catch with her Dad at the early age of four. A bit older she began playing a little league version of the game each summer. Entering Middle School she took up Volleyball and then played on into High School. Soon her coaches knew of the softball potential and she was allowed to concentrate on the diamond sport. Taking up her position in the pitcher’s circle, Casi would become a totally dominating southpaw hurler. That first year in 2000 she won 24 games against 2 losses for the District Champion Lady Rabbs pitching them as far as the Regional Semi-Finals. Her stats were phenomenal with an ERA of 0.47 giving up only 11 earned runs in 163 innings with 206 strikeouts. Over four seasons Casi maintained an ERA of .50. This performance earned her an All-State selection as a freshman and her team’s Most Valuable Player award. There was much more of the same to come as Coach Bridgett Melton’s teams were among the State’s best.
 

Continuing to play summer ball Hendricks compiled a 15 wins 6 loss record her sophomore year. Now her summers became very busy as she played on age group 16 and under teams in Northeast Texas. One very successful team was the Paris Quicksilver which included girls from a wide radius of East Texas. She also spent stints at summer softball camps where she perfected a rising pitch and a hard to hit change up.
 

Entering her junior year with the Lady Rabbs she was even more dominant against opposing batters. She produced a stellar 21-2 record leading to another District champs spot and on to the Regional semis. Once again Casi was named to the All State team.
 

Hopes were high for the Lady Rabbs as the 2003 season opened. Casi responded by rolling up a 22-3 record from the pitching circle. That performance helped lead the Lady Rabbs as far as the Regional semi-finals where they lost a close one to the eventual State Champion. Hendricks was again selected to the All-State team earning this high honor in three of her four high school seasons. She and Coach Melton were also picked to coach and play in the State Softball All Star game in Austin. Casi delivered a hit in that game to drive in the winning run. Coach Melton described Casi as very intelligent, an extremely hard worker and perfectionist.
 

Now she looked forward to playing at the college level but hoped to find a quality college softball team close to home. Casi determined that Centenary College in Shreveport was a small school that competed at the Division I level in only one sport, Women’s softball. As a freshman she mainly filled the role of  bullpen pitcher on a senior laden team but got to travel and play against some of the best university softball programs in the Southwest. The Centenary team won their conference that season.  As the smallest Division I school they played #1 ranked Arizona in the Regionals losing 2-1. Looking toward her sophomore year Casi decided to stay close to home but play for Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant. She split time pitching and again was on a winning team that took their conference crown.
 

Having played softball almost constantly since she was very young it now had literally burned her out. Offered another chance to play for North Texas University in Denton, Casi decided her competitive playing days had ended and did not accept the North Texas offer. She completed college studies at Texas A&M in Texarkana.
 

Then Atlanta Athletic Director Ronnie Melton hired her as the Lady Rabbs assistant softball coach in 2010. She then took the head coaching job between 2011-2013. Her softball experience served to play a very prominent role in her life as she met her husband in a coed softball game. Playing right field she fielded a long hit. Her future husband chose to stretch the hit to a double but found out that Casi’s arm was still strong as her throw to second base nailed Chance Blackburn for an out. Somehow that would lead to their marriage. He currently serves as the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at Simms Bowie.
 

Since, Casi has taught at Malta and after five years at Maud Middle School coaching volleyball and assisting with the track program she has a new job at Simms James Bowie. Certainly one of the Lady Rabbs most talented softball players ever, she deserves her induction to the Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025.