It’s Full-Circle for Kadie Becker
Sometimes things are just meant to be. Growing up in Granite Falls, North Carolina, sophomore pitcher Kadie Becker grew up a fan of the Gamecocks and first met South Carolina softball coach Ashley Chastain Woodard at a camp when she was in elementary school. Their paths would cross again later during recruiting, and now they’re both back where they always wanted to be with Becker following Chastain Woodard from Charlotte after playing under her for a year there.
“I always came to camps here when I was younger, and I always wanted to come to school here,” Becker said. “I ended up going to Charlotte, which also felt like home to me because my sister was there. I’ve always been a Gamecock Softball fan. I first met coach Ashley when she was a pitching coach at Michigan State. We were in Georgia, and she was there for the pitching part of the camp. I was really young. It’s a full-circle thing for sure,”
After not having any contact for a few years, Becker attended softball camps at Charlotte early in high school where she was reunited and eventually recruited by Chastain to play for the 49ers.
“Coach Ash (Chastain Woodard) and this staff truly changed who I am,” Becker said. “They changed my mindset about everything. Their true goal is to make you a better person. They’re going to push you and put you through adversity, but they’re also going to teach you how to get out of it and be there for you. That goes further than just the game.”
Last year, Becker appeared in 12 games and came on strong at the end of the season, posting a 1.85 ERA in her final 11.1 innings with eight strikeouts and a pair of walks.
She was on a mission to be a lot better that last year at Charlotte, so she went to Chicago in the offseason to train with some of the best people in the country and has become what Chastain calls “an elite drop ball pitcher.”
“That is my thing,” Becker said with a smile. “I’ve been working really hard on perfecting that. Last year, all I threw was a fastball and a changeup, but my fastball had a lot of downward movement. I went to OGX (a softball training facility) in Chicago over the summer for six weeks and we hammered the drop ball to get it to go down.”

“I’ve always wanted to be here. Plus, I get to play for the staff that I believe in, and they believe in me.”
When Chastain Woodard left Charlotte to become the head coach at her alma mater, Becker was conflicted at first as to whether she would leave Charlotte, which had become a second home, or follow the staff that has meant so much to her.
“That was tough because I’m sort of a homebody, and I loved Charlotte,” Becker said. “It was close to home. It kept coming back to me though, and I thought, why would I want to play for anybody else? Several other girls were leaving, so I entered the portal, and they called me immediately. It was another full-circle moment.”
In addition to proving herself on the field, Becker continues to prove herself in the classroom.
“I’ve always done really well in school,” said Becker, who is studying psychology and also enjoys playing pickleball in her spare time. “My dad is on school boards, so, I sort of had to! My mom and my sister went through nursing school, and I learned from them that I need to do well in school. The way I grew up, if I weren’t doing well in school, I wouldn’t be doing anything. I graduated high school with a 4.49 GPA because I took some college classes in high school. Math is my thing. I’ve been through every math class that I have to take already. When I first got to college, I came in as a sophomore academically, and it was a lot harder because I figured out that I had to study. I had never really had to open the books much in high school. I had time because softball wasn’t as much in high school. Now, it’s a lot of your time. I got it together, and it’s even harder here at South Carolina.”
Becker aspires to follow her mom and sister’s footsteps into the medical field and become a physician’s assistant.
“I didn’t always want to be in the medical field,” said Becker, who is also firm in her religious faith, sporting a tattoo on her arm that reads “Faith Over Fear.” “Originally, I was going to be a business major so I could open my own hair salon. I love doing hair! If I work in the medical field, I want to work in the emergency room where it’s fast-paced. My dad had gone to the hospital once after cutting his arm, and I watched the P.A. do a lot of different things, and that really intrigued me. That’s what made me change my mind.”
As she settles into her new school, Becker is comfortable in being where she always hoped she would be.
“I’ve always wanted to be here,” Becker said. “Plus, I get to play for the staff that I believe in, and they believe in me. The adjustment hasn’t been bad at all because we were held to a high standard at Charlotte, and we brought that here. It’s going to be that high under this staff.”