Kate Boles
Sophomore Taylor Reid had never played softball a day in her life, but with a history of soccer in her back pocket, and a push from varsity head coach Eric Doane she decided to give it a try.
Soccer is where Reid’s athletic career began, and it was because of soccer that her next journey of running the bases for the softball team began. “At the beginning of soccer season Conard was like do you wanna come run with us because if you do you can be on varsity, and I was like I mean yeah I’ll just do it, it’s something different and it’s kind of like fun to start new stuff in high school” said Reid.
But for Reid being on the team look a little different than all of the other athletes. She doesn’t hit, or play in the outfield. Reid’s job is to run the bases for the pitcher and the catcher in order to keep those players from getting injured or too tired in the game, and also to speed the game up. “I usually go for the catcher of the pitcher, usually pitching is Jordan or Alex and then catching is usually Maddie Harris. So if Maddie hits a single or double I’ll go on for first and I’ll just pitch run for her, so I run like she would” said Reid.
And for junior pitcher Jordan Weber this comes as a great advantage. “I know she’s gonna get more bases than I would because when I hit it she can advance more.”
But with a new sport, comes new learning curves and for Reid it has been a whole new experience trying to pick up a new sport. “Witch soccer, it’s been my sport since I was four so I know a lot about it and it comes easily to me. But with softball I have to learn a lot, and I mean I make mistakes but it’s just a lot of learning” said Reid.
Even though there has been a few things to learn, Reid’s soccer background has given her a bit of advantage when it comes to picking up softball. “Soccer is a very physical sport some people may not think that but it’s very physical, and she’s not afraid of going and sliding into a bag because she slides in soccer. It’s been a nice transition” said Doane.
The coaches and Reid’s fellow teammates have also been there to help her along the way and to teach her all the ins and outs of the sport. “They’ve been great, from day one they were very accepting to what her role was They’ve all said things to her that have helped her, they’ve encouraged her, given her feedback, and told her what to do in certain situations” said Doane.
And the team has definitely stepped in when Doane can’t to help Ried out, “When I’m on the field during a game I can’t call time and go talk to her, and so the other girls help and instruct her” said Doane.
Through all the difficulties of taking on a brand new sport Reid has also been able to manage her time. Though it isn’t school soccer season yet, club season is currently going on. Reid has had to adapt and come up with a system to get everything done.
“If I have a softball game after school, when I go to school I have to pack my soccer bag in my car, so I’ll go from school to the softball game and then I go straight from softball to soccer right away. And then I get home around 10 and then don’t start my homework until 10:30,” said Reid.
But even if it’s been a big change for Reid she has brought a lot to the team. “She’s a great teammate she creates no problems for us and she’s always cheering on everybody” said Doane.
And for even though softball is something new for Reid this year it may not be in her future. “Soccer’s my main sports so I want to pursue that in college and stuff, but I’ll still run if I like it the rest of the season” said Reid.
