Skylar Benedik '22 Recruiting Profile

      Hi, my name is Skylar Benedik, I currently play softball for Ohio Lady Lasers Red as a 2nd Baseman/Shortstop/Outfielder, but I am also a right-handed pitcher and will play anywhere on the field.  I have been playing softball for eleven years this season, having also played for Thunder Elite, Ohio Ice and Ohio Lady Bombers.  The softball experience has taught me so many things and has effected my life in a lot of ways as well.  I started playing when I was three years old.  After my first season, I decided that playing softball for the rest of my life was a dream of mine.  Since then, that dream has never changed.  Yes, all the wins and championships have all been a part of this amazing experience, but the biggest things to me are the losses, the friendships, the family, and the love of the game itself. 

     During the 2017 softball season, my grandmother passed away.  My grandmother's passing had a huge impact on me, but instead of it effecting my play, I worked even harder because softball was an outlet for me.  This made me a stronger player mentally and physically.  Other than softball, I play soccer, run track and cheer.  In soccer I am a goalie and softball has both effected and been effected by that experience.  Each sport has taught me how to truly be humble.  Academically, I would like to graduate high school with a GPA of 3.8 or higher, and go onto college to study sports medicine.  My academics have always been the most important part of my life, and I do not only want to be successful in softball, but academically successful as well.

      Over the years that I have been playing, softball has influenced me as a person in many of ways.  Softball has taught me fearlessness, humility, good sportsmanship, dedication, teamwork, ambition, and leadership.  I have faced many obstacles that have influenced me throughout the years.  Some of these obstacles include injuries, which taught me patience, the passing of my grandmother, which taught me strength, big losses, which taught me hard work and good sportsmanship, and learning how to get through the bad days and the slumps.  One game that I can truly say has effected me was at Nationals in 2017.  We were in the semi-finals and we were playing a team that we thought we were going to take an easy win from, which had us going into the game with the wrong mindset.  We ended up losing the game 6-5 and went home in third place.  That experience has stayed with me and reminds me that to be successful, talent and hard work must also be paired with a proper attitude and mental-game.