Florida-commit Layla Lamar, #3 in the 2024 Extra Elite 100, has been rehabbing a knee injury this fall, but that hasn’t stopped her from being with her Lady Dukes-Lamar teammates… and from blogging for Extra Inning Softball.
Layla will blog about all her adventures with the Lady Dukes this year and share them with us.
You can also read a profile on her we did titled: Layla Lamar… Great Bloodlines For One of the Best Talents In the Nation.
Here’s the latest with Layla, including a successful trip to the Bolts 5-Star Exposure in Alabama last weekend…
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This weekend was full of many emotions!
Everyone was so excited and happy to see each other. Our previous tournament (Champions Showcase) we were not able to make it to because, a couple players had a few things pop up and, unfortunately, we got hit by the injury bug this fall season. Therefore, we did not have enough bodies to make an appearance to the Champions.
Our weekend at the Bolts 5-Star Exposure showcase started off with a very fast paced, high intensity practice. This was our first time practicing or playing in about a month, so we had some things to clean up before we hit the field Saturday morning. At the beginning of practice Coach started off with some slight conditioning.
After that we did countless throwing and fielding drills. Next, everyone took their positions, and we did some team defense, working on cuts and relays. Like usual, we finished practice off with a scrimmage against our 16U team. This went well. Everyone got some live action and lots of confidence to take over onto the diamond Saturday morning!
After we wrapped up practice, a few of us girls went out to dinner at Olive Garden. By the time we got there the wait was long, but honestly it gave us so much time to bond and prepare for what we were going to face on Saturday. If you know us, you know there is never a dull moment. And we lived up to this during dinner.
I promise you every time we do something as a team, I learn something new about everyone. This is what makes softball more than just a sport. It’s like I get to know my family, and this is something that I would not trade for the world and I will never take for granted.
After dinner, everyone was tired from a long day of traveling and practice. We got back to the hotel and everyone was in bed before the 10:45 curfew!
Saturday was a long day. We played at 9 am, 2 pm, and 6:30 pm. The 9 am game we played against Top Gun 18U. They were a good team. We played a close game against them and battled hard, but the outcome of this game was 4-2. We fell short just a little bit as our bats were slow to start off, but what really killed us was our outfield.
Coach James emphasized to us that on defense we must make every fly ball an out. He emphasized that hitters are too skilled now at this level, and we cannot allow them more chances to hit. Everyone learned from this experience and throughout the rest of the weekend it did not happen again.
In between our 9 am and 2 pm game (Duke commit) Cassidy Curd and I went out to eat with her family. Like I said, it is the little things that make these weekends so enjoyable. Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to be back to the field for Game 2.
The second game of the day we played AP Gold-Locke. This game went very well. Cassidy Curd started this game and (uncommitted 2023 LHP) Olivia Duncan came in and closed this game out for the W. It was fun to see one of my friends (Mississippi State-committed 2022) Nadia Barbary, who played for our opponent, the AP Gold. On that note, it was a great experience for me to be able to see so many UF commits this weekend (Kaila Pollard, Cali Decker and Mia Williams). I look forward to all of us wearing the same jersey soon!
After Game 2, a few of my teammates and I went over to the 16U fields to watch the younger Premier Lady Dukes team. Unfortunately, their game was delayed, so we didn’t get to watch it. But it was cool to give my little sister — uncommitted 2025 Jolyna Lamar — a pregame pep talk ;)!
Quickly, after we rushed over back to the 18U complex to prepare for warmups for our 6:30 game. Our opponent this time around was the Tennessee Fury Platinum 18U team. We had so much energy. It’s just something about night games with us. We always bring so much energy to them and that is exactly what we did.
The highlight of this game was our bats. Everyone was hot. (Duke-committed 2022) Kairi Rodriguez led the game off with a home run and (Central Florida-committed 2022) Aminah Vega followed her lead with a homer in the third inning. The outcome of this game was a 9-0 W. This spark in the lineup carried right over to Sunday morning.
Sunday, we got to sleep in a little bit and that was nice. We had an 11 am game. We played against Firecrackers-Wallace from California. As a team, this game started off slow and we had a couple errors. But before this game, Coach James called a team meeting and told us, “no matter what happens today, we play as one; do not point any fingers.”
This really motivated everyone to give their all. Despite the adversity we faced during this game, the bottom of the lineup found a way to get on base. (Purdue signee) Tyrina Jones followed this by coming in clutch with a grand slam to score our first four runs. The next two innings the offense really came through and busted this game open. In the last inning, we were on defense and a few errors were made, but everyone played through this and got out of the jam. We came out of this game with a 9-2 TEAM win.
We finished up this weekend 3-1, learned so much about the game, but we still have so much to prove. I cannot wait to see these amazing girls soon in Clearwater, Florida, for our next tournament. Stay tuned!
— Layla Lamar #17
