Jayden Heavener, the talented two-way player at the top of the 2024 Extra Elite 100 rankings published last fall, agreed to blog about her Sept. 1 experience for Extra Inning Softball.
Heavener is a talented lefty pitcher and big-time hitter for Virginia Unity 16U-Johnson/Ross and for her Pace (Fla.) High team where last spring she went 16-3 with a 0.60 ERA with eight no-hitters and 300 strikeouts while batting .391 with a .495 on-base percentage and eight home runs to earn Extra Inning Softball 1st Team All-American honors.
Also, here’s what we wrote about Heavener in The Last Inning shortly before the New Year (click HERE) and below are her thoughts on the recruiting process, which culminated in Jayden commit to LSU this week as she announced on Friday that she’d be a Bayou Tiger…
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My journey has been fun, but stressful at times.
The college coaches really started watching games during my first year of 14U and I remember the first time I saw LSU and Oklahoma at one of my games when I was 13 (years old). I just had to try to block it out. While pitching you can see all of the coaches, but you get used to it and get more comfortable.
It’s TIME!!! @unity_json_ross pic.twitter.com/o4FPNZlCU7
— Jayden Heavener (@JaydenHeavener) September 1, 2022
My first college softball camp was at with Florida Gators when I was 12. The plan was to go to as many camps as I could. I wanted to see all of the campuses and learn as much as I could about each of the programs.
Last year, my parents and I really started watching as many softball games as we could, so that we could learn coaching styles and find out how each coach used their pitchers. We wanted to be ready, so that we could make a good decision that we knew would be a fit for me.
I wasn’t able to get everywhere because a lot of the camps were at the same time, but I had a good idea.
Last summer, I was used to all of the coaches watching games because my Unity team is full of amazing players and every coach was always watching someone. I have been counting down the days until September 1st… I couldn’t believe it was finally here!
It is so humbling to have such amazing college programs interested. My coaches—Amanda Roberson (pitching), Jody Hodo (hitting) and my Unity coaches Jay Ross and Josh Johnson prepared me for this day.
At 12:01 (a.m.) on September 1st, I answered my first call. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Some coaches called, some sent text messages and some sent emails. I had some amazing coaches reach out. We stayed up until about 2 am; it was so exciting!
I think in my heart I kind of always knew where I wanted to be, but now I have no doubt at all.
I knew I wanted to be an LSU Tiger on September 1st.
I can’t thank Coach Beth (Torina) enough for believing in me and giving me this amazing opportunity.
#Geauxtigers!!
— #00 Jayden Heavener
I have been so blessed in this recruiting journey. Thank you to all the College Coaches that called, texted or sent emails. Thank You to @amandar53408573 and @CoachHodo for working with me. Thank you to Coach Jay and @UnityCoachJosh for your guidance!! @unity_json_ross pic.twitter.com/lXHXJYFmkV
— Jayden Heavener (@JaydenHeavener) September 2, 2022
