Sofia Eskola '18 Recruiting Profile

I became fascinated with softball at a very young age. My older sister was a pitcher and my earliest memories are of going to her games and watching her on the mound. She was graceful and fierce. I wanted to be just like her and I wanted to be on that mound. When I turned six I was finally old enough to play and all I wanted to do was pitch. My Dad was my first coach and I remember he told me that I couldn’t become a pitcher because it was a lot of hard work and dedication and he wasn’t sure that I was ready for that. But I wanted to be just like my sister. So every day I went in my back yard with my net and bucket of balls and pitched into the net until my arm hurt. I never gave up and through that determination and hard work was able to show my Dad that I deserved a chance.  He gave me that chance and I haven’t stopped working hard since.

My Dad is a retired Marine and was gone quite a bit when I was growing up. Our mutual love for the game has always kept us close and no matter where he was, or what time zone he was in, he always had time to call me to talk about my games, practices and lessons, and to offer advice. My Dad spent every free minute coaching me, catching for me, cheering me on, and occasionally chewing me out! The best advice my Dad ever gave me was to never stop earning my playing time. His advice and the lessons I learned from him have helped me to be graceful and fierce like my sister, to keep my composure under difficult circumstances (like based loaded and no outs), to adapt to my surroundings and to overcome any obstacles in my way. My love for the game and the lessons I have learned from my Dad have more than prepared me for the mental and physical challenges of playing at the college level.