When you know, you know.

That was the softball experience for Emily Lipe, a first-year pitcher and infielder from Prairie Grove, Arkansas who plays for the Aces NWA 12U team and fell in love with the sport almost immediately.

She currently attends Brightfield Middle School and will someday play for Bentonville (Ark.) High.

Emily has a very bright future, but it hasn’t been without some challenges. Her fall season ended with the young player injuring her forearm on a play at the plate as an opposing player slid into her.

The bruising caused severe muscle strain and the promising player got shut down for three months to heal and rehab through the first part of her season. However, when she returned to the field, Emily struggled a bit to start the season but doubled her work effort to get back to where she was before.

A two-way standout, she had four walk-off hits in the past two seasons, and this fall she batted .462 with an OPS of 1.043 while scoring 33 runs and stealing 23 bases. 

In the circle, Emily pitched 39.5 innings with a 10-1 record and 41 strikeouts and in the infield when playing shortstop as well she had a .949 fielding percentage in 39 total chances with two double plays.

Emily’s club coach, Myranda Shaw, raves about the athlete’s play and how she can motivate her teammates to be their best:

“Emily is a leader on and off the field. She thrives in high pressure situations and as her coach, it’s exciting to watch how much heart she has for the game even at her age.” 

“She leaves all she’s got on the field every time she’s out there. Emily’s the kid you can count on to get the rally going. She’ll pick her teammates up and go to battle with them every chance she gets.”

“It’s a pleasure to be her coach. I look forward to seeing her play college ball one day!”

In the following first-person account, Emily explains why she loves softball and how it’s “a big part of who I am as a person.”

*****

Thank you so much for this opportunity with you and Line Drive Softball to spotlight my love for softball.

I got into this amazing sport because when I was around six, we discovered that I was athletic, and I knew I wanted to play a sport. I tried out for soccer and other things, but when I played softball for one season, I knew that it was the one.

I immediately fell in love with the sport, especially as I went on and got to see other great players succeed in my amazing organization. I knew that I was going to have to grind deep and work hard until I could be in their position one day.

I hope to attend college with a scholarship to play the sport that we love. 

Another thing that has grown my love for this sport for me is seeing other great players work out and get better right next to me at Prospects Training Academy.

For an example, I have seen Cyarah Dotts (a Class of 2027 pitcher committed to the Univ. of Missouri) have her ups and downs in pitching while still always working through it and giving her all in everything she does.

Also, Allyssa Parker—the freshman pitcher at Oklahoma—trained and still does sometimes at Prospects with Joel Garcia (my hitting coach) and Jessica Luckett (my pitching coach) supporting her to become the great pitcher and player she is today as a freshman for the Oklahoma Sooners, to just get better at this sport and extend her career.

Seeing Alyssa and Cece grind so much in their highs and lows, really pushes me and motivates me to be the player I want to be when I am older and push myself to high standards and never giving up. 

My favorite team is Ole Miss, not just because my dad and mom like Ole Miss—my dad grew up in Mississippi about 40 minutes from the college campus and had season tickets when Eli Manning played there—it’s also because I love seeing how hard their coach motivates them to be their best and how much they love them is really awesome.

I hope I have the opportunity to play there in college!

It was awesome to see the Rebels play in Fayetteville in Super Regionals this past May, making history for their team. It has been really cool to see Aliyah Binford go from playing for Ole Miss to accomplishing her dreams by playing professionally for the AUSL.

There have been times where softball has been tough, but the good always outweighs the bad and I could never hang my cleats up because softball is such a big part of who I am as a person.

One of my greatest accomplishments so far was to be named Alliance Fastpitch HFL 10U Player of the Month in June of 2024.

I had doubted myself a lot that year and it was really cool to be recognized by such a great organization. 

Finally, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

— Emily Lipe