Lloydminster softball pitcher Sophie Kreese will soon be testing her skills in Swainsboro, Georgia.
The 17-year-old committed to the East Georgia State College Bobcats and will be heading down south after graduating from Holy Rosary High School.
“I’ve been dreaming about this since I was seven-years-old. With COVID, I didn’t know how it was going to go but then it ended up happening. I’m so excited and I’m so grateful to all my coaches. It’s been amazing.”
She says she’s talked to several other schools through phone calls and Zoom meetings but East Georgia State College offered something a little more special.
“I met Coach Wimberly and he was the best. He had a Zoom call with me and made me feel like I was his priority. He let me talk to some of the girls and the other recruits and it felt like home. I ended up verbally committing to them a couple of weeks ago.”
As the sole Canadian on the team, Kreese is excited to meet the others, who come from all over the United States, in person. She says it’s going to be tough adjusting to the new team schedule but she’s determined play as much as she can.
“Girls down there get to play all the time. I Snapchat some of the girls from Florida that are going to the team and they’re practicing every day outside in the hot weather so it’s a little intimidating coming from somewhere where we can’t do that. But it’s all about work ethic and I’m working really hard to keep up with them.”
While she wasn’t able to play a normal season this past summer, she was able to train using batting cages and the 222’s Fastpitch travel team in Saskatchewan. She says they also ran game scenarios to help simulate games. Kreese adds coaches have been very understanding about the challenges student-athletes face due to the pandemic.
“They understand that we can’t go out right now. Some states down there can but we can’t so video and cages are all we can send them.”
Kreese will be studying psychology in the Bachelor of Arts program.