Last month, we did a spotlight on a talented young player who impressed us on and off the fields this summer: 5-foot-9 infielder Peyton Guthrie who plays for the Watson Wolfpack 12U club team out of Southern California.

In the article titled Rising Star: 2029 Shortstop Peyton Guthrie… “The Captain” Who Takes “No Days Off” (August 25, 2024), we learned more about Peyton and were so impressed with her, she was invited to join our strong team of player bloggers and graciously agreed to do so.

In her introductory blog for Line Drive Softball, Peyton details how she grew up loving ballet, soccer and softball but ultimately had to decide which she loved the most… any guesses to which one she picked?

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Hi!

My name is Peyton Guthrie… I’m 13 years old and live in Pasadena, Calif.

I was given this opportunity to blog for Line Drive Media after I was named in August as a Rising Star to watch in the Class of 2029. I’m still very grateful for being recognized and, in today’s blog, I’m going to be talking about my early life and my interests when I was little.

My family has always been a sporty family from when I first started to play sports to today.

I tried almost every sport when I was little to see what I loved. I tried everything from ballet to soccer. My Dad first put me in soccer when I was probably three or four years old. I remember having the best feeling of scoring a goal!

How my softball journey started was when my dad decided to put me in t-ball. Back then, I didn’t understand how the game was played, and I remember when I hit the ball I would put my head down and walk to first base!

My mom put me in dance—ballet and jazz—and I loved it!

It was my favorite thing to do but, the problem was, I wasn’t flexible at all. As years went by I stuck with those three: soccer, softball, and ballet.

My love grew for all of these and it was always hard to choose which one was my favorite.

In soccer, my dad was always my coach and I loved competing and knowing that he was watching and helping me at the same time. My favorite thing about soccer was competing indoors!

When we competed indoors it was always at the end of the season to see which team would get 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd place for the entire San Gabriel Valley. Our team would always get 1^st place every year but my last year I played we got second.

For ballet, I danced at a studio in Sierra Madre where I used to live when I was younger. I danced in recitals, and I remember we would always have a fun costume for our dance.

In 2019, after one of my recitals, I was asked to join the dance company. At the time for the studio, it was new and was a very big deal if you got in. I was so excited and, of course, I said “Yes!” However, it was a lot of work and, as time went on, I decided ballet wasn’t for me because I wasn’t flexible enough.

In softball, I started off in t-ball and then eventually went over to the Sierra Madre League and that’s where I played when I was younger. It was the same in softball: my dad always coached my team.

Also, my dad would always push me more because his sport was baseball and he grew up loving the game as much as I did and he always knew how to coach me in the best way.

I always wanted to pitch, but my parents didn’t let me try until I was in 10U. When the time came, I asked my dad, and he was on board so we started taking lessons.

I remember my first lesson for pitching: I pitched the ball to my dad and the coach asked me if I had ever pitched before because I had really good spin.

From there on, I fell in love with pitching!

I will always remember my first game as a pitcher; I remember striking out almost every girl on the team we were playing and I was so happy!

At the time, I still had a passion for dance and I remember my mom saying that there was tap dancing at the studio so I gave it a try. I remember loving it and at that time Covid started… I was in 3^rd grade.

I was tap dancing and pitching and was very happy but, suddenly, everything was shut down for Covid—and it was on my birthday, March 17th.

It was my 10^th birthday and I will never forget it: dancing continued online but, sadly, the softball league was shut down because of the pandemic. I was devastated because I only got to play two games that season—just after I first started pitching.

Even though the league stopped, I didn’t.

I kept taking my pitching lessons and that’s when my dad realized that travel ball didn’t stop. We decided to try out for a team and at that time I didn’t know what was about to come for how much work I was about to put into the sport.

I will always remember trying out for my first travel ball team… it was a long try out! When we were told that I made the team, I was thrilled!

Except we realized how much time we had to dedicate for the sport I had to choose between tap dancing or softball. It was a really tough decision but in the moment my heart wanted softball!

— Peyton Guthrie/Line Drive Softball blogger

If you too would like to write/blog for Line Drive Softball, email: brentt.eads@linedrivemedia.com and tell us about yourself!