By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
As it was for athletes across the nation, the spring of 2020 was a tough one for Topeka High sisters Zoe and Adisyn Caryl.
The Caryls had been set to play softball together for the first time in their careers for a talented Trojan team before COVID-19 wiped out the entire season.
"It was sad,'' Adisyn Caryl said. "When we found that out, I think we sat on our beds crying for about a week. It was just so upsetting.''
But while the spring of '20 was a nightmare, '21 has been the type of season the Caryls had dreamed about, with senior Zoe and sophomore Adisyn capitalizing on their one season together with monster regular seasons for a Topeka High team that will take a perfect 20-0 record into Tuesday's Class 6A regional tournament at Hummer Sports Park.
"I've always been looking forward to playing with (Zoe),'' said Adisyn, the Trojans' shortstop. "We always talked about it, so once we finally got to do it, and since we have been so successful as a team, it's like, 'Well, this is what we've been waiting for.'
"At least I knew that I still had one year with (Zoe) and I had some teammates that didn't get any (seasons) with their siblings so I appreciated that. When we got through basketball and they finally said we were going to be able to play softball we were so excited and we're just making the most out of it.''
Sisters Adisyn Caryl (left) and Zoe Caryl have helped lead Topeka High's softball team to a 20-0 record this spring. [Submitted]
Zoe, Topeka High's catcher, agreed.
"I would have had two years to play with her but instead I just get the one and I'm lucky that I have this year,'' Zoe said. ''It's better than nothing at all.''
Topeka High coach Shane Miles knew what he had in Zoe, who had earned All-State honors in '19 for a Trojan team that advanced to the 6A state tournament, but Adisyn has also quickly become a valuable cog in High's lineup in her first season of high school softball while adjusting to playing shortstop for the first time.
"Ads and I are really, really, really close so it's nice to be able to know she's my shortstop and I trust her to catch every single ball I throw at her,'' Zoe said. "I know she'll get the job done for anything that she attempts to do. It's just nice to have a sisterhood bond on the field with me.''
Zoe Caryl, who will play collegiately at Division I Illinois, ended the regular season with a .768 batting average, knocking in 63 runs and scoring 42 while hitting nine home runs with 15 doubles and six triples.
Topeka High softball coach Shane Miles congratulates Zoe Caryl after one of her nine home runs this season. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High sophomore shortstop Adisyn Caryl throws out a basebunner earlier this spring. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Little sister Adisyn is hitting .631 with 37 RBI, 28 runs scored, 15 doubles, three triples and a homer.
Both Adisyn, who also plays tennis and basketball for High, and Zoe, who ran cross country and played basketball, are quick to admit that they envy certain aspects of their sister's talent.
"Ads is a thousand times faster than me,'' Zoe Caryl said. "I have better endurance than her, but she is so much faster than me. She has faster footwork than me and what she does with groundballs, she's very elegant in her fielding which is something I could never do. What she does really amazes me and it's pretty cool to see.''
Said Adisyn:
"The power that Zoe produces with home runs and all the extra base hits she gets, I'm like, "I wish I had that.' ''
Zoe said it's been fun to see Adisyn grow, and grow as a playe.
"When I was 9 and she was 7 they were playing in some sort of pitching machine tournament and somehow, magically, I got to guest play with her so that was the first time I remember playing with her,'' Zoe said. "I was a foot taller than her and now you see us and she's taller than me. It's just been really cool to see her grow up and play and perfect her craft. She's a little stud, so it's exciting.''
Adding to the Caryl's family dynamic is the fact that Emily, Zoe and Adisyn's mother, is a Topeka High assistant coach and coaches first base for the Trojans.
"I think it's helped us because she's really knowledgeable about a lot of things,'' Adisyn said. "You might think, 'It's your mom so she's going to baby you,' but no. My mom's not like that. She just as hard on me as she is on the whole team, maybe a little harder.''
Zoe agreed.
"She's going to treat us like everybody else and have the same expectations,'' she said. "She's our mom so she's always going to have the highest expectations for us, but she also has high expectations for everyone on this team.
"I love playing for my mom and it's really cool to have her in the dugout and at first base.''
Zoe and Adisyn's father, Beau, is a former high school coach in multiple sports and has worked with his daughters throughout their athletic careers while grandparents Betty and Dennis Caryl are also former coaches.
"It's really amazing that we kind of get to have our full family kind around this softball team,'' Zoe said.
The Caryl's extended family includes cousin Emmerson Cope, a standout for 18-2 6A power Washburn Rural, who are also on the short list of 6A title contenders.
"No matter what, if both teams go to state my family's going to be so happy because Zoe and I are playing together and we're playing against cousins, so the whole family's involved,'' Adisyn said.
The Caryls have had to deal with heartbreak this spring, with Emily Caryl's father and Zoe and Adisyn's grandfather, Dennis Mayo, passing away in March.
Mayo didn't get the chance to see the Caryl sisters play high school softball together, but Adisyn and Zoe said their family has helped each other get through the tough times.
"You think you're going to be sad for so long, but there's always somebody to tell you to keep going and that, 'This is what he would want for you guys, to continue to play and be successful.' '' Adisyn said. "There's always somebody around to help us if we get down.''
Said Zoe Caryl:
"We always told my grandpa, 'Hey, just make it to March 26th. That's our first game, just make it, you can do it.' Sadly he passed before that happened, but having Adi here and especially for my mom I think it really helps that we're both here.
"It's always, 'Play for grandpa.' Whenever we do the National Anthem or line up we all write our numbers in the dirt, but I know Adi writes 14 (her number) and 41 and I just write 41 because that was my granddad's college number. It's really cool to kind of dedicate this season to him and wishing that he could be here to see it, but now he has the best seat in the house.''
