As long as Amir Hunt has been at Eupora High School, Haley Farley has been a star for the Lady Eagles’ softball team.
Hunt’s time in Eupora dates all the way back to Farley’s eighth grade season when she was starting for the varsity team in the middle infield. Every time since that point, if fans went to see a Eupora Lady Eagle softball game, they were sure to see No. 15 roaming around at shortstop making play after play in the field and speeding around the bases offensively.
Her career ended unceremoniously this year due to COVID-19 impacting the entire country and she didn’t get the recognition she deserved in her final season or to go out on her own terms. But in Hunt’s mind, there aren’t many before her that have made quite the impact.
“I can’t imagine another player at Eupora being better than her. She can easily be the best player that I’ll ever coach,” Hunt said. “She can hit, run, field and throw the ball. If I had a dime for every time another coach told his players to keep the ball away from her, I’d be a wealthy man. If you hit it anywhere within her range, it’s an out.”
Farley leaves Eupora as a Mississippi Association of Coaches All-Star and a multi-time Starkville Daily News All-Area team member. She helped the Lady Eagles to two slow pitch state championship series and one state championship win.
Now that she’s done all that she can with the Lady Eagles, she’s preparing to go play for a former Eupora coach in college. Next season, Farley will be playing ball for Holmes Community College and Eupora native Trae Embry.
It was really a perfect match for both.
“He’s always wanted to coach me and I’ve always wanted to play for him,” Farley said of Embry. “I missed him by two years when he left here and went to Neshoba and I just know he’s a really good coach. He developed the whole team at Neshoba so I just want to get better with him.”
But just how far can Farley go? Hunt believes as far as she wants.
There’s a whole lot more untapped potential despite the fact she feels like a seasoned player after six years of high school experience. With her tools and will to win, there’s plenty left in the tank that Embry can get out of her.
“She’s got potential to play four years. She’ll play a year or two at Holmes and will have a chance to go beyond that if she wants to,” Hunt said. “Coach Embry will make her 10 times better than what I made her. Her limit is the sky.”
Hunt just knows that he’s going to miss her and so is the Eupora program. Farley has meant so much to the town, the school and the softball team over the last few years and her presence will be missed both in the dugout and in the classroom by her coach.
The way she plays the game was the biggest thing that Hunt believed set her apart from the pack.
“She plays with a high level of intensity with a lot of fire in her. She doesn’t take any crap off of anybody,” Hunt said. “She’s just a kid with a high level of intensity and has something different in her that a lot of kids don’t have. She has a lot of fire in her.”
