- August 2020
Personal Statement
For as long as I can remember, it’s been a dream of mine to play college softball. I started playing softball at the age of three and have played every year since. I love to spend my days out on the field competing. Two of my former high school teammates now get considerable playing time for the University of Oklahoma, and they always say how much they love the experience.
The majority of my career I have played shortstop, which is my preferred position and what I enjoy the most. I played shortstop in summer and school ball during my middle school years. Leading into my freshman year, our high school team was coming off their second consecutive state championship, but had lost their starter at third base to graduation. The coaches asked me to work at third base with my 18u summer ball team, the Oklahoma Magic, to see if I could pick it up. I wound up starting at third base that summer as my team finished third at Nationals in Kansas City. I was then selected as a starter at third base for my high school team and played the entire year at that position as a freshman, with 8 other senior starters. We wound up winning our third straight state championship that year!
Leading into my sophomore year I was moved back to shortstop for the Oklahoma Magic 18u, and had an outstanding season, both in the field and at the plate, where I was leading the team in average and RBIs leading into the last tournament of the regular season. During that tournament, I was injured diving back to the base on a pick off play, injuring my right (throwing) shoulder. I was not able to play in the field for the balance of the season and most of Nationals, but I was able to bat. In the championship game, I volunteered to play third due to challenges we were having defensively at that position that week. I played the full game, but unfortunately we lost in extra innings, placing second for the tournament.
I rested my shoulder so I could hopefully play shortstop in the coming high school season. After a few games, I was moved back to third due to the difficulty I was having making the throws from deep short. As it turned out, I had dislocated my shoulder and torn my labrum in two places when I was injured earlier in the summer. I made the decision to play through the pain and not have surgery until after the season so that I wouldn’t miss any games and be there to help my team win. During regionals, I hit two home runs, one being a grand slam, and played a solid third base, but we were ultimately knocked out in the regional finals and didn’t make it back to state.
I underwent surgery on November 4th, and have been doing physical therapy for the past five months. Things are going very well, so well that I recently started my throwing program and have started to take full batting practice again. I also play basketball and run track for my high school. Due to my surgery, I was not able to play basketball this season so I volunteered to be the team manager. I spent my time during practices and games doing whatever the team needed of me, whether it was filling water bottles or picking up sweaty towels. We made it to state this year but have been unable to play due to the recent outbreak of the Coronavirus. I hope to be able to run track this season, primarily the 4x200 and 4x400 relays, but everything is on hold due to the virus.
