Gabriella Aughton, a 5-foot-11 right-handed pitcher ranked in the top 125 of the Class of 2022 rankings and the junior from Gibsonia, Pennsylvania has really blossomed since she joined James Lamar’s Lady Dukes travel ball team in early February of last year.
You can certainly get a sense of where “Gabby” is from based on the local travel ball teams she played with prior: the Pittsburgh Power, the Pittsburgh Spirit, and the Pittsburgh Passion!
Coach Lamar has a unique nickname for the successful pitcher calling her “CEO” because, as he puts it, “Gabby is a leader, the ultimate professional. We love her preparation and dedication to the game.”
Also impressive to not just her club coach, but college coaches is “Gabby’s love for being the best pitcher she can be,” adds her coach. “Her desire to excel has her traveling from Pennsylvania to Tennessee for pitching Lessons with Brandon Carr,” Lamar says, “and the kid is relentless in her pursuit to be one the best pitchers in the country in the Class of 2022. “
Meet the CEO Gabby Aughton !! Gabby is always about business, we love it Gabby, enjoy the process. pic.twitter.com/gsUEtsF0Xr
— Lady Dukes Lamar (@LadyDukesLamar) September 1, 2020
What does she do well?
“Gabby’s strength is her ability to mix speeds and challenge hitters on the hands with a rise ball she can throw at different levels,” Lamar continues. “This summer at ASA Nationals, Gabby pitched a gem as she struck out 13 of 16 batters faced in one game with her ability to challenge hitters early and make them chase her off-speed pitches.”
The Keystone State native earned “Most Improved Player” and “Young Ambassador” awards at the Lady Dukes awards banquet this year, but Coach Lamar believes Gabby has an unlimited ceiling of growth.
“She has not even scratched the surface of her potential,” he concludes. “We expect big things from her until she leaves our program and heads off to Boston College.”
Here, in Gabby’s own words, are how she developed a love of softball and knew that her future ACC school was the right one for her…
*****
The Early Years
My dad often tells a story about my last 10U travel ball tournament that starts with my face having a thick layer of dirt from the field on it. We had just finished our last game of the weekend and we were walking to the car as it began to thunderstorm.
The drops of rain had created splash marks on my face due to the dirt. As we were exiting the park, I found a mud puddle and jumped in it with excitement and exclaimed, “I could do this every weekend.”
Right then and there, my softball career had begun.
The first time I stepped onto a diamond was at 5-years-old playing t-ball at a park five minutes from my house. When I was 8, I joined a coach-pitch softball league and our team supposedly went undefeated that season.
As I got older, I grew quickly and became the tallest girl on my team and at school. I was very fortunate to grow up around the game. I have two cousins who played college softball and my grandpa played college baseball and coached immediately after.
The Role of Social Media in the Recruiting Process
Social media, specifically twitter, has played a huge role in my recruiting process.
I had been playing on local travel teams in the Pittsburgh area and started a twitter account to document and promote my softball journey. I slowly built an audience of travel ball players, coaches, organizations, as well as, softball influencers over the past two years.
In fact, with the help of Twitter, that’s how I joined the Lady Dukes Lamar National team.
Coach James Lamar came across one of my tweets and my dad’s twitter account. A Twitter DM (Direct Message) and a phone call later, Coach James invited us to North Caroline for a tryout.
My goal at the time was to join a national team and play at PGF Nationals. Several months later I found myself in Huntington Beach, California with the Lady Dukes where I reached a personal best of 63 mph and had a dominant performance with 10-plus D1 college coaches watching.
Recap: A year ago, I told @gaughton2022 if she continued to work hard, we would find a team to play in @PGFnetwork & she did: Earned Varsity Letter & 4.0 GPA; made & earned playing time; thank you @LadyDukesLamar Coach James; and reached a personal best at #PGF: 63 MPH pic.twitter.com/SNT5m7Qmtk
— Harold Aughton (@harold_aughton) August 7, 2019
As time passed, little did I know how critical Twitter would become to the recruiting process due to COVID-19.
I didn’t post every workout or bullpen; however, when I posted it was something to be proud of. For example, during one tournament this past summer, I came in for relief, after the first inning and struck out 10 of the 13 batters I faced.
I pinned that video to the top of my twitter account and to date, it has received 2,295 media views, generating nearly 8k impressions and over 160 profile clicks.
Preparing for September 1, 2020
I started the recruiting process by tagging coaches in Twitter posts and emailing them game schedules. It quickly turned into filling out questionnaires and showing my personality via email.
As the big date approached, I created a spreadsheet of my top teams, with coaches’ names, contact info, background info, as well as programs of study related to accounting, finance, and economics, student to faculty ratio, graduation and acceptance rates, as well as tuition rates.
I also established my top priorities for what I wanted in my dream school: great academics, a supportive coaching staff, a winning team culture, a competitive conference, and outstanding facilities.
September 1 (the Contact Period begins)
When I woke up for my first day of junior year—September 1—I was excited and felt very blessed to have received multiple texts, emails, and voicemails from college coaches overnight.
Little did I know how rigorous and time consuming the process would become with daily emails, texts, and phone/Zoom interviews with coaches!
After narrowing down the list based on interest, I started to compare all of the schools based on my criteria. Several people suggested before making the big decision, to visit the campuses so my parents and I traveled through five states and visited four campuses in one weekend.
We logged over 20 hours of driving time… and ate lots of Chick-fil-A.
Why I Chose BC
Before visiting campus, we took a short drive to downtown Boston and walked through Boston Commons park as well as Newbury Street.
As soon as I stepped out of the car at Boston College’s Harrington Athletics Village, I was in awe. There were two gorgeous fields, (baseball and softball) and a spectacular stone building between them. That building is the brand-new Pete Frates Center, home to baseball and softball at BC.
Once completed, the state-of-the-art building will hold a full turf field, locker rooms, team rooms, offices, and strength and conditioning space. We then walked to the football stadium, dorms, bookstore, and academic facilities.
As I toured the campus, I realized that Boston College was where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life!
I interviewed with Coach Amy Kvilhaug on September 1 and kept in close contact with her as I went through the process. One Saturday morning, my parents and I listened to Coach K’s hour-long interview with NFCA.
It gave us great insight about her background, personality, and coaching philosophies. Although Coach K and I still have not met in person, the interview we listened to, and all of my conversations with her really connected with me.
The week following my campus visits, Coach K scheduled a Zoom meeting with my parents and I. We talked for roughly one hour and during the conversation she asked if I wanted to become a BC Eagle. The answer was obvious as tears of joy flowed over my cheeks as I hugged my parents.
I am proud and blessed to announce that I will be continuing my academic and softball career at Boston College!!!🦅❤️💛 #WeAreBC @BC_Softball @CoachKvilhaug pic.twitter.com/rjeelw1EpU
— Gabriella Aughton (@gaughton2022) September 25, 2020
I am so thankful for the opportunity to play softball in the ACC and blessed with parents who have sacrificed so much for me. I plan to apply to the Carroll School of Management at Boston College where I hope to pursue a business degree.
— Gabriella Aughton
