According to Lady Falcons softball coach Laura Beaver, Flowery Branch sophomore Kelly Kahlert can do just about anything when it comes to softball.

Kahlert has been playing ball since she was only six years old, and she has played for the Lady Falcons since she made the JV team in eighth grade, but even then, Beaver said she knew Kahlert was special.

“She has amazing speed, she’s very versatile at the plate, and she may be the fastest girl we have,” Beaver said.

Kahlert has been showing exactly what she can do since she began playing varsity last season, most recently when she had two-run home run in a big win over Winder-Barrow and went 2 for 2 with a double, three runs scored and three stolen bases in a victory over Apalachee last week.

For her effort, Kahlert has been names The Times Athlete of the Week.

Kahlert is one of Flowery Branch’s captains this year, selected by her coaches through an application process. Beaver said that Kahlert’s biggest strength as a captain is that she leads by example and works constantly to better herself and go above and beyond what the stats show.

“She gives 100 percent effort day in and day out,” Beaver said. “She is harder on herself then any of us could ever be, both on the field and in the classroom.”

Although she currently holds the record for stolen bases and right now leads the team in almost every offensive category, Kahlert never stops pushing herself.

“I have a lot of expectations for myself,” Kahlert said. “I’m still trying to meet them.”

She is dedicated to her sport, playing for the Team Georgia U-16 travel program in the summer and working out on her few days off.

“I try really hard to keep going in softball. If I don’t try hard, then that’s not me,” she said.

Beaver said that she is just as committed to her academics as she is to softball.

“Her teachers are always telling me what a great person she is and how good her grades are,” Beaver said. "She’s the epitome of a student-athlete.”

But Beaver also stresses how much of a leader Kahlert is for the Lady Falcons.

“She’s very humble. She’s quick to help, and she’s easy to talk to. She doesn’t complain,” Beaver said. “She’s got no excuses.

“She expects to get ahead.”

Kahlert admits that she struggled some against Winder-Barrow in the beginning, but her no-excuses attitude pushed her to adjust and keep going, and she led her team to a win.

“I was having a tough time at the plate,” Kahlert said, “I wasn’t doing what I usually do, There was a runner on second, and I knew I had to get this run in. I really needed a confidence booster for myself too, and I got my pitch and it just happened to go over the fence.”

Beaver said that she knows Kahlert has the capability to play softball at the college level and that she sometimes forgets that she is only a sophomore.

“Her potential is limitless,” Beaver said.