Rising to the Occasion

Different name, same Annalise.

The Georgia Gwinnett College softball pitcher is still striking out opposing batters and winning games at a record-setting pace, but as Annalise Jarvis instead of the Annalise Wood that was the 2023 NAIA National Pitcher of the Year and All-American.

That name change came when the Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, native married Reed Jarvis on June 24, 2023 – one year after the couple’s first date. 

“When we became engaged, we decided that we wanted to get married on the one year anniversary of our first date. I saw Pretty Place Chapel (in Cleveland, South Carolina) on Pinterest when I was around 12 years old and told my mom (LeAnn) that’s the place where I wanted to get married someday. However, it’s so popular that you need to reserve it almost one to two years in advance,” says Annalise.

So, the bride-to-be was delighted to learn that a cancellation had provided the opportunity for a June 24 wedding in the Pretty Place Chapel.

“My mom called to see if I still wanted (the June 24, 2023, date). Before she could finish the sentence, I said ‘Book it!’” stated Annalise, looking back on a decision that came before the start of her inaugural season as a Grizzly in the spring of 2023.

She brought lofty pitching credentials to Lawrenceville as Annalise Wood after earning second NAIA All-America team honors for a 2022 freshman season in which she had a dazzling 18-7 record, 0.84 earned run average and 312 strikeouts in helping Bryan College (Tennessee) to an appearance in the NAIA Opening Round.

However, something was missing and Annalise decided to transfer to GGC, where she had suffered a 3-0 loss in eight innings.

“I just felt something when playing here my freshman year,” she recalls. “After I had decided to transfer, I prayed for a sign on where to go to next. As I sat in Coach Kat’s office on my visit her son, Reid, sprinted past the door. It was meant to be as I had started talking to Reed about dating around the time of that GGC visit.”

On June 9, 2022 – 15 days before that special first date with Reed – Annalise committed to join the GGC’s nationally ranked program, established by Head Coach Kat Ihlenburg. 

Annalise burst onto the scene at the Grizzly Softball Complex by tossing a perfect game in her GGC debut, setting a new single-game record with 16 strikeouts against Ohio Christian University on February 8, 2023. Another perfect game came nearly a month later in a home contest against Bacone College (Oklahoma). And she made NAIA history by becoming the first softball pitcher to toss three perfect games in a season when she retired all 21 batters at Truett-McConnell University (Georgia) on April 15, 2023.

Annalise’s signature pitch is a rising fastball – an enticing toss to the plate that she began throwing at 13 years old (striking out up to 10 batters during 60-minute timed travel ball games at 16-and-under events). Meanwhile, she mixes in a combination of curveballs and changeups to keep hitters guessing.

Annalise set a GGC single-season school record with 300 punchouts in recording a 23-3 record inside the pitching circle during the 2023 season. She came out on top in an 11-inning classic against College of Coastal Georgia to help the Grizzlies win the NAIA Opening Round’s Lawrenceville Bracket and send the team to the NAIA World Series in Columbus, Georgia.

Picking up where she left off, Annalise has a 5-0 record, three saves, dazzling 0.36 ERA and 75 strikeouts across 39 innings. She tossed a one-hitter, with 14 strikeouts, against Cumberland University (Tennessee) last Saturday on the home diamond.

“The bigger the moment, the more she wants the ball and play,” remarks Ihlenburg.

Annalise adds, “Being at GGC allowed me the opportunity to get the National Pitcher of the Year award and other accolades because of the program’s success and presence GGC Athletics has within the NAIA. It is crazy to think about the many pitchers I beat out for the national awards.”

Along the way, Reed and her parents, Tim and LeAnn Wood, can be found cheering on each strikeout while sitting patiently in the grandstand behind Grizzly Softball Complex’s homeplate. Reed proudly wears t-shirts with a variety of statements: Trophy Husband, Dibs on the Pitcher and I Love My Wife. 

Ihlenburg has seen personal growth for Annalise during the past 12 months and is looking forward to what’s ahead for the star pitcher and the Grizzlies, which entered the season ranked No. 4 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 poll. 

“Her maturity has really come into her own,” the coach says. “Marriage is a life decision. She was ready to commit to her husband while continuing to be all-in in her approach to softball and her teammates.”

Annalise is ready to help lead the Grizzlies back to the NAIA World Series in hopes of winning the program’s first national championship – on the biggest stage since she stood in front of family and friends and exchanged vows with Reed on June 24, 2023, at Pretty Place Chapel.