Fountain led the nation in homeruns

The 2024 girls' high school softball season has ended across the United States and T.R. Miller junior Meg Fountain sits atop the stat sheet by leading the nation with 24 homeruns during the season.

Fountain's 24 homeruns lead all classifications in softball. She also ended the season ranked second in the nation with 74 RBI.

Fountain, 17, has one more year at T.R. Miller and has already committed to the University of West Florida to continue her softball career on the next level.

Fountain, the daughter of John Robert and Sarah Anne Fountain of Pollard, said she started playing in T-ball when she was 4-years old and fell in love with the game. She plays shortstop for the Tigers.

"I grew up playing it and I enjoyed it," Fountain said. "I developed a love for the game."

She said leading the nation in homeruns is the result of all the hard work and repetition in the batting cage and at home with her father.

"I had really good coaches at a younger age," Fountain said. "I took hitting lessons from multiple people and took something from each."

She said early on she concentrated on simply getting a hit and being a line drive hitter. She hit her first homerun her freshman year against Flomaton.

In addition to softball, Fountain plays basketball and has had several setbacks along with way.

She broke her leg her eighth grade year and has suffered two concussions.

After breaking her leg, Fountain credited a really good physical therapist and the determination to recover from the injury.

"I would sit in a chair and hit balls off the T," Fountain said.

She said as she improved she would wake up at 5 a.m. and go hit in the batting cages at the school or at home."

She said leading the nation was great, but noted it's all about the team and not individual statistics. She noted T.R. Miller won three games in the regional tournament and it was the first time the Tigers won more than one game in the tournament.

Although other offers may come in, Fountain said she's "locked in" on attending UWF on a softball scholarship. She remembers a conversation she had with T.R. Miller softball coach Damon Hacker who told her "When you know, you know".

In addition to leading the nation in homeruns and finishing second with RBI this past season, Fountain had a batting average of .521 and an on base percentage of .572. She had a total of 63 hits that included the 24 homeruns, 29 singles, six doubles and five triples. Over the past two seasons, Fountain has a .517 batting average with 125 hits, 42 homeruns and 128 RBI.