Rookie softball standout Jessica Stanley is from a small town in Moncks Corner and might be small in stature at 5-2, but she plays big.
While attending Berkeley H.S., she played softball. She started playing at a young age, with her parents being the reason she started playing.
“I guess it just came natural, my dad played baseball, my mom played baseball,” Stanley said.
Throughout Stanley’s career, she has played multiple positions, including first base and catcher, but she has now solidified her spot at the hot corner.
Stanley’s softball experience at USC Aiken has been an enjoyable one so far.
Hard work is an important tool to Stanley when it comes to earning a position on the field. Stanley expresses how she always has to work hard in order to earn her position, and must continue to work even harder on the field.
Despite the hard work on the field, getting ready for a game is just as much mental and routine.
“I always do my makeup, do my hair the same way, I have to have a bow in and then I just listen to music,” Stanley said.
Growing up, the most exciting time in her athletic career was when she hit a round-tripper for Berkeley H.S., helping the school win a tournament.
Although she’s just two games into her collegiate career, Stanley recognizes that encouragement is an important tool within motivation – and it’s something she and her teammates use on the field.
“If anyone gets down at practice or in a game, others will go up and tell them to shake it off,” she said. “Knowing that everyone is good and trying their best, we make sure each other stays motivated.
“Off the field, communication is just as important.”
Stanley said, “most of us are communication majors or exercise science majors, and some of us will get together, and study the same things. “Our upperclassmen help the underclassmen.”
Stanley wants to accomplish hitting 400 or above, and to have a starting position on the team. This goal is important to her because she wants the most out of her collegiate career, which means staying on the field.
She expressed that Chandler Terrapin, Lyndie Dorgan, and Kristan Lowery, in addition to Stanley’s father, are the most influential people to her. Stanley’s father is encouraging, and always there for her.
“My dad definitely is a big influence on me,” she said. “He texts me everyday and he tells me to play with swag.”
If she continues to play with the same effort and intensity as she did in the season-opening win, four years from now others will look back and say that Stanley stayed motivated and reached her goals on the field.
- Written by Atiya Fields
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