Giavanna Smiley is a junior at Struthers High school that plays softball along with all her academic achievements.
Her team started playing winter league, and she enjoys it a lot. She’s stepping up to work hard for this year’s coming season.
She really enjoys batting and stepping up against pitchers. She always has confidence and a good attitude which hypes up the team as well.
Smiley says, ¨Right now, the strongest part of my game is my hitting. I’m confident at the plate. I adjust well to different pitches, and I consistently make solid contact to help move runners and score runs.¨
Something she wants to improve on is playing more defensively instead of offensively. She’s now learning a new position which is different from the past two years.
This year has been a big change for her and the softball team. They have two new coaches and the energy is much different.
¨I do like our new coaches, Mrs.Dubos and Coach Bob. They are really nice and want the best for us. This year it’s starting to sink in that I only have two years left of high school softball, and this will be my last senior night before I’m a senior. I just think the growing aspect of things and how things change so quickly is starting to catch up to me,¨ says Smiley.
She is excited for this season and seeing what it has to offer and can see who is dedicated to getting better.
This winter season is a big change from the past two years, she knows the team just needs to work together and get better.
Smiley says,¨It’s okay right now. Offensively, the team needs to step up a bit, and defensively we need to start backing our pitchers up to make outs. So, it’s not horrible, but we need some work. I love playing softball because of the bonds and memories you make with your teammates. Things that motivate me are losing, moments of success, and coaches who believe in you.¨
She is proud of all the accomplishments she made along the way including her travel teams, high school years and her NE8 Offensive Player of the Year (runner up). She plans to continue this journey.
