(Taylor Zito is coming off a stellar sophomore season as the pitcher for Stamford High School’s softball team, leading the Black Knights to a league playoff berth and a win in the state tournament. Zito will be writing about her travel ball experiences this summer.)
By Taylor Zito
This softball season has been full of great memories and new experiences. Tradition South 16U, my summer team, has been doing well in tournaments and we’ve been playing together as a team. We only have ten girls so each of us puts in a lot of commitment and effort, and for the most part every girl plays almost every inning of each game.
Last weekend I got hit with a line drive to my wrist so it’s been difficult to pitch my changeup, but I’ve been hanging in there and putting in just as much effort. My coach wants to make sure I will be healed for our trip to Utah next weekend, so this weekend I’ll be taking a rest.
Yesterday we had a game and were winning 3-0 until the last inning, when a girl hit a grand slam off an error, making the score 4-3. Most teams at that point will just give up, but we did what we needed to do and got on base. Bottom of the seventh inning, we had the bases loaded with one out and our right fielder Lindsey Schmid was up at bat. With a home run in the first inning, she got up to the plate with confidence. She got a walk-off grand slam to win the game for us 7-4.
Summer ball and high school ball have both similarities and differences. For instance, high school ball is more intense, especially being an underclassman trying to prove myself, where in summer ball everything is more relaxed and everyone is around the same age.
Competition, on the other hand, is very similar between both high school and summer. The pitching is basically the same, and with hitting you never know what to expect. That’s why as a pitcher you pitch with all you have in every game, and you can never underestimate a team.”
