Former Arizona Wildcat All-Conference player Ashleigh Hughes will be assisting College Bound Jocks in the Southwest.
One of the great things about my job is getting to watch young athletes grow and emerge on the softball fields, sure, but also mature and succeed in life overall.
Go back with me nine years—to the Fall of 2013—when I was running a softball site called Student Sports Softball and came across this obviously-talented young player named Ashleigh Hughes.
At that time, she was playing for the So Cal Choppers and was in the middle of her four-year varsity career at Antelope (Calif.) High in the Sacramento area.
Back then, I was doing early versions of what is now the Extra Elite 100 rankings which were the Student Sports Hot 100. In the 2014 Hot 100, Ashleigh was ranked 35th in the country.
The utility player, who shined in the infield and outfield, was so good that she was offered and committed at one point to Alabama. However, not long before this video interview was published in 2013, she had opened up her recruiting again:
As a senior, the strong-hitting infielder/outfielder would be named as a 2014 Max Preps All-American after she batted .532 with 24 RBIs and led Antelope High to a league championship.
Eventually, she would sign with Arizona and play significant time as a freshman in 2015 before going on to twice earn 2nd Team All-Pac-12 honors, primarily as a standout centerfielder and leadoff hitter for the Wildcats, before she concluded her collegiate career in 2018.
“My career at Arizona really drove me to continue being involved in the game,” Ashleigh says. “I had my own opportunities to play pro ball and had decisions to make in my personal life but knew I wanted to stay close to the game in the way of coaching.”
She points to the 2017 season as being a pivotal one not just in softball, but in life.
“I remember the year that I was reminded daily why I love this game and it was 2017 at Arizona. We ended up winning the Pac-12 championship, but the most important part of the entire year was that everything was firing on all cylinders for us as a team and as individuals. The biggest softball takeaway from that year was when you figure out who you are as a player and what you bring to the table and honed in on those things, everyone was just able to do their job and trust the next person to do theirs.”
It was just a championship season, it was one that was fun for the college star.
“That’s when softball got really fun again for me,” Ashleigh continues. “Every single kid isn’t going to be the person that tries to put the ball over the fence every at bat. And if you are that kid, then you’re probably not the kid that’s also stealing all the bases and flies around the diamond.”
One of many peoples’ favorite memories involving Ashleigh (mine included) was during her junior season (2017) when she was surprised by the appearance of her brother, Raynard, an Air Force Senior Airman, whom she hadn’t seen in two years due to his military service.
Raynard showed up for the Arizona home game versus Oregon and, well, just try not to get a lump in your throat as you see the siblings hug for the first time in a very long while:
Since her impressive stints in the Wildcats’ outfield, Ashleigh has stayed connected to softball including serving as head coach for a club team in Arizona—the DNC Bandits Gold 18U squad—which she runs with assistant coach Chris Magee.
The former Pac-12 All-Conference outfielder will also be sticking close to the sport she loves as she recently has been added to the roster of College Bound Jocks (CBJ) to help the company expand its operations in the Southwest and West.
Brian May of College Bound Jocks.
According to Brian May, the National Sales Manager and Recruiting Specialist for CBJ and himself a travel ball coach, he was impressed with Ashleigh from the minute he first crossed paths with her earlier this summer.
“I met Ashleigh in Colorado when my Finesse 18U – May team played her DNC Bandits team out of Phoenix,” he recalls. “She and I struck up a conversation while she was coaching third base and I immediately knew she was a person that needed to join the CBJ team.”
“At one point, while I was coaching third base, I looked at their third baseman and asked, ‘How can you not get up to play for your coach? She brings so much energy and knowledge to your team!’ That player smiled and nodded her head in agreement. From that point, Ashleigh and I maintained a line of communication, speaking about softball and what CBJ offers. She bought in 100 percent, and we knew that we needed to have her with us.”
Ashleigh remembers that experience very well and feels it was a pivotal moment in her life too… especially when it comes to helping the next wave of college softball players.
“When I met Brian May in Colorado last summer, we were playing against each other in a really competitive game and got to talking and just instantly clicked. I wanted to hear anything he had to say about CBJ. We ended up staying in touch and talking often after Colorado.”
Today, Ashleigh is excited about the future and how she can help change lives.
“I’ll tell you my favorite part about this is that this platform is for softball and softball only,” the athlete begins. “The softball community needs that. The marketing aspect of this is truly unbelievable. There are so many families that don’t have much guidance in the recruiting process, and they need this platform and the work that CBJ does.”
“Not only do you get the highest quality skills video, you get help talking to schools, marketed to schools in your talent range and guidance on how to do it the right way. Not a single other platform out there is doing what CBJ is doing in the sport of softball, and most of the other platforms are triple the price.”
Ashleigh batted .386 as a junior–8th best in the Pac-12. Photo: Univ. of Arizona.
According to May, the California native—who know lives and works in the Phoenix area—will be the West/Southwest Sales Representative/Recruiting Specialist with her role to be identifying potential college bound softball players and ultimately have them become members of the CBJ family (beginning with getting their skills video produced).
Ashleigh says she’s excited to “follow my passion for growing this game.”
“Ashleigh will be involved with the on-field skills video production and working to help these athletes showcase their skills for college coaches,” May continues. “As a person, she is knowledgeable, hard-working, and dedicated to the futures of these young ladies’ futures in the game of softball.
“Importantly, she has experienced the recruiting process herself at the highest levels, ultimately choosing to play at the University of Arizona, and she brings an unmatched energy and knowledge of the game of softball as well as the recruiting process,” May concludes.
“Her ties and connections in the Southwest and West Coast Regions, dating back to her playing days and recruiting process, will continue to enhance CBJ’s visibility out West and we are extremely excited to have Ashleigh as part of the team.”
For her part, Ashleigh looks forward to 2023 and taking this next big step.
“What it came down to for me is that you just cannot argue with the numbers when 99 percent of the kids who do CBJ get recruited to go play at the next level,” the Arizona-based softball standout concludes.
“I would be doing this for my kids if I was a parent in softball today. It’s just beyond a huge success and it excites me for the younger generations; I just can’t wait to be a part of expanding these services out West and continue to follow my passion for growing this game!”
