Izzy Zober, a 13-year-old seventh grader from the Pittsburgh, Pa. suburb of Fox Chapel, has been playing softball since she was six years old and has loved it from the beginning.

Now her passionate for the sport is taking her literally around the world.

A power-pitching and power-hitting member of the Ohio Outlaws 2011 – Popowitz team, this is Izzy’s sixth year of playing travel softball at an elite level.

And she has an impressive array of coaches and trainers who are getting the most out of her including Outlaws Head Coach Erica Popowitz, pitching coach Anna Lauterbach of 412 Fastpitch, and Softball Hall of Famer and Team USA gold medalist Leah O’Brien.

Coach O’Brien, who was an All-American for the Arizona Wildcats and won gold medals in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, raves about the young athlete’s work ethic among other things.

“I have worked with Izzy over the past few years, so it has been fun to watch her growth,” O’Brien explains. “She has a great demeanor and does not get rattled easily. Izzy enjoys the game and works hard to do whatever she can to make her team better.”

Izzy is very committed I know she is going to do great things on and off the field because she has a great attitude and approach in everything she does.”

She already has an impressive list of softball accomplishments across the globe.

As a dual citizen of the United States and Israel, where her father was born, Izzy has been one of the top players on the 12U Israel National Softball Team and 2022 and 2023 she helped lead Team Israel on the mound, at the plate and in the field to win the silver medal in the annual World Baseball Softball Confederation (BSC) – Europe’s youth tournament or “EMRYT” – in Collecchio, Italy.

In 2023, Izzy also made the roster of the 18U Israel National Softball Team as it competed in Prague, Czech Republic, at the biennial WBSC 18U European Championship.

The young teen from the Keystone State is no stranger to “playing up” either, as the righty pitcher and first baseman was called up last year to pitch and hit for the Fox Chapel Softball Association’s 18U rec team which is coached by high school coaches and made up primarily of high school players.

The multi-sport athlete also plays on her middle school volleyball and basketball teams and when not competing in athletics she can be found studying as a straight A student, hanging out with her friends, traveling the world, learning to play the guitar and even juggling!

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