A Day to Remember: Minority Softball Prospect Game

 

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One day I will always remember is participating in the first-ever Minority Softball Prospect softball game. A couple days before I arrived, it was announced that I would be competing in the homerun derby. I was not nervous because I had been preparing for this day for about a month now. 

The first day everyone arrived, we had a meet and greet and dinner with everyone. It was very exciting to see people I have played against and meet new people. After the meet and greet, I went with my sister to get our nails done. For the last event of the day, we took professional headshots in the collar shirt that they provided for us.

The next day (competition day) I woke up excited about what was in store for the day. After warming up and hitting the front toss it was time for the competition. There were three rounds, six contestants, and the bottom two of each round were eliminated. Each round had different time limits and different rules that you had to follow.

 

In the first round, I hit five home runs which was the second most. Next round this other player and I hit seven home runs. I was a little nervous for the last round especially since we had tied for the second round. In the last round, I hit three home runs and now it was her turn. It was kind of hard to watch because I was wondering was my best enough. 

I ended up winning the competition. This is a day to remember because as one of the only freshmen at this event, I won the first-ever Minority Prospect Softball homerun derby. 

I was very excited and waved to my mom and sister to come down on the field. There were so many cameras and people asking me questions. This was very overwhelming at the time. At that moment, I was very proud of myself and those who helped me prepare for the event. There were so many people back home cheering me on. I was also posted on many different social media platforms like Gamechanger. Overall, this will always be a day to remember because I love defying the odds because many people didn’t think I was capable of this type of accolade.

Outlook on 2024

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My outlook for the New Year is that it will be very busy. For the first 5 months, I will be training and playing softball. This is my second year playing softball here at South Carolina State University Softball is a big part of my life and I have been playing since I was seven years old. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday we have weights at 6 a.m. and this allows us to become stronger and faster.

My roommates are also my teammates. Recently we had media day. We put on our uniforms to take our headshots, action shots, and the team picture. Two of my roommates and I have been playing softball together since we were in sixth grade. My other roommate and I just met when we came to college but she fits into the group like our missing piece.

We play almost every weekend and we also do a lot of traveling. Some of our competitors are North Carolina Central University, Howard University, and Delaware State University. Overall, the first part of my year will be very busy. Our goal for this year is to win the MEAC tournament. We have been practicing six days a week for about three hours each day in order to reach this goal. I feel as if we will reach this goal because we have been working hard and we are a pretty close team. Being able to trust your teammates is a huge part of winning that many people do not realize. I am very excited for this year and cannot wait to see us reach our full potential.