RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
Cassadie “Sadie” Armstrong was recently named to the 2024 Extra Elite 100 rankings and if you’ve followed Extra Inning Softball for a while you’ve likely come across one of her dozen blogs she’s written for us going back to 2018.
Sadie is from Portland, Maine, a beautiful area though not necessarily known for being a hotbed of softball so she’s had to go national to get her name and reputation out there!
It didn’t hurt that she was a 5-foot-10 intimidating pitcher—at the tender age of 12—but Sadie’s worked hard for it too.
It hasn’t come without its costs, however; beside the obvious need to travel to get experience and exposure, Sadie has had to overcome adversity including an injury that required surgery and knocked her out for a few months.
Still, her efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.
“In the short time I’ve known Sadie,” says Stars Coach Rachel Coleman, “she has been an amazing person and teammate! She has had to battle when it comes to injuries but we are excited help get her back to 100 percent. I know her and her family are sacrificing a lot to be part of the Stars National Family & we are excited they are with us!
Despite the obstacles, the sophomore emphasizes that it’s all work it and in her latest blog talks about how the “sacrifice” is worth the end result…
*****
“Sacrifice” is a word that is intrinsically associated with softball.
In fact, the term is so built-in to the sport, that we use the term “sac (rifice) fly” when a fly ball is intentionally hit to the outfield to score a runner while knowing that the batter will be making an out.
In fact, the sacrifice is so respected that the batter is not punished in the stats for not getting a base hit because she “sacrificed” herself for the greater good of scoring the lead runner.
Because softball has incorporated the concept of sacrifice at the very core of what is necessary to win, playing softball creates a team-first mentality in its athletes. We are inherently a collection of like-minded, selfless competitors with a common goal.
I don’t know another sport that celebrates selflessness like softball.
The sacrifice that is expected among athletes is to further the team’s goal in a game. However, there is also an expectation that teammates sacrifice outside of game day.
It is common to see high level players practicing independently several hours every day. It is also common to see players with a lower level of commitment everywhere but the gym, cages and fields.
It has always seemed to me that hard work would be a great equalizer when a player might be less gifted than her talented teammate.
The word “sacrifice” is also given a lot of lip service. I don’t even know how many memes and motivational quotes I see in my Twitter feed that comment on how sacrifice is what it takes to advance in this game and in life.
But, really, sacrifice cannot be defined as cleanly as a dictionary definition or the way we know what it means in a game situation.
What a sacrifice is to one person, is just simply what you do, for another person. The concept of making a sacrifice is deeply personal and can even evolve over time.
There’s sacrifice involved when you do what’s best for your team to get the “W” and there’s sacrifice when you give up something you love to chase this softball dream.
It is a lot harder to sacrifice for your team when you see teammates not working hard and, in that case, it is probably best to surround yourself with like-minded athletes so you don’t sacrifice while also being resentful. I
t’s also easy to get complacent when you are not seeing others trying to outhustle you.
My own definition of sacrifice evolved over the past year. I think I am a little bit less judgmental and a little more appreciative as a result.
I realize that most players are doing their best, and that their best might not be the same as someone else’s best: we just have different levels of commitment or even financial/time/level of support or even health or genetics that makes the pursuit easier for some players than for others.
I know that driving seven hours one way to team practices is a sacrifice to some people (including my family!!!) but to me, it is how I will be spending my time this Fall.
Enthusiastically!
When I was a few years younger, I gave up a lot of birthday parties to attend a practice, because I committed to a team and that meant the group deserved being a priority.
Honestly, I just wanted to shag fly balls and hit bombs and I found social occasions that were unrelated to that were obstacles instead of treats for me, but I recognize not everyone feels that way.
It is just a cost-benefit analysis of whether something is worth it and playing against top competition exceeded my expectations in terms of player development. The thing is, I don’t think that it is right for everyone to do what I am doing. I don’t judge them for that because they may have found what they are looking for close by or in a different not lesser way.
So, sometimes when there is a football game I would like to attend with a friend, or a dance that actually wasn’t cancelled for COVID and that maybe I have something fabulous to wear to… I am bummed out.
I wish I could do both things: go to practice and attend something cool. The feeling is exacerbated when the non-softball event is unlikely to be repeated and very likely to be talked about by my friends and I won’t share their memories and feature in any stories they have.
But, I want to play softball more and that is weird to them.
When I was asked me to share my thoughts on “Sacrifice,” I had a ridiculous case of writer’s block. Everything I wrote sounded completely unrelatable because it IS unrelatable to most people.
How many of your friends outside of softball give up what you give up to chase a dream? It isn’t “normal” behavior. Well, I am sorry to tell you: we softball players are not normal people!
We are weird. We are something other than average. Softball players strive to be exceptional people and, by virtue of that effort alone, we are exceptional. We are the exception to all the stereotypes about people in general and especially about teenagers.
There is no reason to not be exceptional in other areas of our lives, and most softball players are exceptional students, exceptional musicians, exceptional friends or even exceptional volunteers and frequently hold leadership positions.
We enjoy the process of giving of ourselves for the reward it brings to ourselves and to others. There is a very small percentage of athletes that go on to play college ball and that means that if you are a softball player striving to do so, you are in a small group of outliers and your peers are likely your teammates and opponents.
It can be lonely but you will find your people because they make the same sacrifices you do. You can be weirdly exceptional together.
And you can still wear that cute outfit you never got to wear to the dance to your team dinner.
Your coach won’t even recognize you if your hair isn’t in a bubble braid! Just be sure you don’t resent being asked to bunt or fly-out with a runner on third with less than two outs.
I would do it for you.
But I’m weird.
— Sadie Armstrong