Blog: Sadie Armstrong Conquers “Life in a Northern Town”

We at Extra Inning Softball love when we get to hear from the fastpitch athletes and learn about their journeys through softball… and life.

Today we introduce Cassadie “Sadie” Armstrong, a 5-foot-10 pitcher/infielder who plays for the Central Mass Voodoo 14U team and is a 7th grader (Class of 2023) from Portland, Maine.

So how do you get noticed when you’re not from one of the softball Power Four states of California, Florida, Georgia or Texas? The Maine native talks about what she’s done in her efforts to improve her game and get the exposure to play at the next level.

Sadie’s honors already have included being named a 2017 All American by USA Softball 12U, a member of USSSA Elite Select Futures and chosen as a Pre-Season Rookie by Under Armour Softball Factory.

In 2016, Sadie was the Maine State Champion Pitcher for both Little League and USA Softball. She plays basketball for the 2017 AAU State Champion Firecrackers and off the field was her school’s French Student of the Year and is an honors violinist.

The pitcher has a 62 mph screwball and a 61 mph dropball and has consistent ball exit velocity of high 60s to low 70s.

She, along with her five siblings, will likely be coming to a field near you at some point this year, as you’ll learn from her first blog for Extra Inning Softball, she hopes to meet you!

*****

I forced myself to quickly roll out of my bed that it seemed like I had just flopped into, abruptly leaving the perfect temperature beneath my cozy quilt to carry my sore muscles down the hallway into a slightly too cold shower in order to wake up.

I slapped my cheeks beneath the stream of the nozzle as the water startled me to consciousness. The thought that the struggle is not worth it never entered my still foggy mind, as I looked at the still dark, sky outside.

You see, I went to a speed and agility class in the morning, did some hitting in the local batting cages, and then I played in an indoor “dome league” game at 3 pm the day before.

Afterwards, my mom and I carefully navigated through the traffic that moved slowly enough to threaten my punctuality. While safely buckled, I changed my uniform top during our hour’s drive to make it to a 6 pm double-header for a different dome league with a different team, in a different town.

I slept in the car on the way home, not letting the falling snow and slippery roads keep me awake as my mom traversed the back roads of rural Maine at almost 11 pm at night. After washing my uniforms, preparing my softball bag and setting out a quick bite to eat for the next morning, I fell into that warm bed I told you about.

Now, it was time to get myself into softball mode again so I could work out with a different team that I winter train with every Sunday morning, in my home town.

Our practices are two and a half hours long, with fielding, batting, pitching and everything else you can think of squeezing into our limited time in the barely above freezing early morning temperatures of the turf facility. Once we move to the muddy and slippery puddle-soaked fields, I have to wear an Under Armour long-sleeve shirt under my practice jersey until mid-May.

The shower worked wonders. I looked more alert and I reminded myself that I need to perform for these two and a half hours at my best. After that, I can pass out and recover.

But, for these next few hours, the game owns me and I owe it all I have. I have a few inspirational quotes I taped up around the house to pump myself up to get ready to compete.

After reading those, I reflected on the fact that I am blessed to have opportunities to train with the 18U team at the Edge Academy/Maine Thunder Program as a 12-year-old. These girls are going to bring out the best in me and challenge me. I love the challenge!

I have to warm my Easton Ghost bat up by blasting the car heater on it, so that it won’t break in the weather. It’s about 15 degrees outside and I hope we work so hard that I feel hot during the practice.

After practice, I thank each of the coaches at the stations. I want to make an impact on the game with how I play and how I conduct myself. I might play with older girls, but younger ones will see me do this and some of them will be in the weekend pitching clinics I volunteer to coach for local beginners.

After a week of pitching lessons, hitting lessons, weight lifting, speed & agility, team practices with my travel team in Massachusetts which is two and a half hours and two states away from me, and these crazy weekends, everyone asks me why I keep my schedule.

I do it because I have to do it. There is no choice when you live in an area of the country where your sport can only be played as intended, from May through October.

It doesn’t bother me that I spray-painted a red square on a plow-created snowbank in the driveway to use as a strike zone in inclement weather. I have a space heater in the garage and I use a bucket of balls so they are dry for each pitch.

I pitch from a turf mat in the garage into the snow and ice backstop every night that I don’t have a live catcher.

It doesn’t bother me that I missed the school dance and a birthday party last weekend to fly to a different state to guest pitch for a team of almost total strangers in Florida in a tournament.

Those kids are my new friends now. I will play with them more next year, too. It was so cool when the coach from one of the opposing teams invited me to guest with them at a national level tournament, too.

I guess I showed them that my basement hitting sessions consisting of hitting a ball off a tee into a carpet hanging from the ceiling can prepare me for this level of competition. I don’t mind that I have to do my schoolwork in the car, at the field or even in the early morning hours if I am too tired to comprehend the assignment the night before.

None of it matters if I can play softball. And all of these things I did yielded opportunity that just wouldn’t be there if I didn’t create the opportunity.

So here is what I did: As a 10-year-old, I participated in tryouts for the USSSA Elite Select Futures All American Games. I played in the tourney and made awesome friends and those teammates call me when they need a player on their teams.

Some of them play on very high-level teams and so instead of playing up an age group, I am competing with the best of the best in my own age group so I can gauge what I need to do to grow, and hopefully my performance will be an asset to those folks who gave me a chance.

My mom likes that I am hearing age-appropriate conversation in the dugout, too.

I played in the USA Softball All American Games and saw kids from all over the country while proudly representing my own region. I met new friends and connected with kids I recognized from other experiences. We stay in touch and talk about performance standards in our areas and I can’t wait to see them on the field as a teammate or opponent.

As I am only 12-years-old and a 2023 vintage, I feel the clock is ticking for me to find a way to play softball for four more years at this highest level that I crave.

I know that kids my age are “committing” and I remind myself that things are changing and the commitments are merely mutual intent and not a promise. And then I look at my planner to make sure that I am playing on a national stage and against the best competition and I mentally prepare to showcase in the fall with a few different teams because I want to be on the radar of these coaches who can change my softball dreams into a career.

My Massachusetts travel team will showcase, but it is important to attend showcases where the colleges you are courting might be. So I do both, and I play extra ball that way.

I know that I am a better player for taking this route. As a result, I am adaptable, coachable, and confident.

And yet, I am scared that after high school, I might never play against these same girls whom I admire and enjoy. And I am in 7th grade, I live in a winter wonderland, and my parents support my dreams and goals.

It can be hard to breathe when you want something so badly that your soul literally aches with longing. So I take a deep breath and practice efficiently, and with every ounce of my being.

And I pray.

And I watch games over and over that I DVR’d from the Pac-12 and SEC channels.

In the end, the opportunities need to be created by me, because living in Maine requires creativity to compete with girls in areas of the country where opportunity is more accessible and abundant. But, those girls are being creative, pro-active and determined, too.

In my final analysis, I realized that it does not matter where you live, it matters what you do. I just need to be seen doing it, and there’s the rub.

***

Do you or someone you know have a story of dedication to softball like Sadie’s? What is YOUR story showing your love for the game? We’d love to hear about your journey and we’re looking for talented bloggers like Sadie! If interested, reach out to us at: [email protected].