RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
Skylar Limon is a speedy 2022 center fielder and middle infielder at Sonora High in La Habra, California and when you watch her play one thing is immediately apparent: she can fly.
In one famous video, she practically did as she was at a recruiting camp and made an amazing diving vertical catch that became a sensation on social media, garnering more than 750,000 views on Twitter alone, and catching the eye of softball legends as well as former NBA and MLB greats!
Here’s the play:
Skylar is equally good with the bat and her freshman year hit .538 with 38 stolen bases and in 2020 was hitting a spectacular .696 before COVID ended her season. This year, she’s the captain of her varsity team and is again hitting close to .500.
The 4.0 student, who is taking Honors Math and English and also helps out in the community assisting at food drives and in retirement homes, plays for the Firecrackers 18U team coached by Tony Rico, which she joined in 2019 when she was 14U eligible.
Playing for the high-profile team, Skylar had no problem getting recruiting attention and last month—on April 22, 2021—committed to a university far from her home that she admits she never originally considered: Ohio State.
Here’s her story with some great insights and advice from the junior on how to navigate the recruiting process…
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Tell us about what led to your choosing the Buckeyes…
To be completely honest, I never thought I would go to Ohio State. That was until I saw the tradition, the pride, and just the overall program that Ohio State has to offer. I have always been a very energetic and loud player, and most of the time the entire team is never like that (which can be disappointing) but watching OSU’s entire softball team have that fire/passion for the game was what made me fall in love with the program.
It also really helps when you connect with the coaches and build a relationship with them. Actually, I think one time (I believe it was our first call) I had a 40-plus minute call with Coach (Jen) McIntyre, and probably most of the time it was not even softball related (laughs)! But overall, I knew Ohio State would give me the unforgettable college experience every young athlete wants.
How did the recruiting process go?
For me, I wanted to take the recruiting process as slow as possible. I am not one to make up my mind very quickly, so I really wanted to kind of submerge myself into every school before I ever even thought of going there.
COVID also really messed with the recruiting process, as I am sure everybody knows and dealt with, so it was pretty interesting to see how each school/program worked with it differently. I did enjoy talking and connecting to each coach; however I was pretty bummed out that I could not get the “true” recruiting experience like my sister or former teammates got.
In terms of Ohio State, they weren’t even on my list of schools to look at. Actually, our recruiting coordinator for Firecrackers, Greg Mettler, urged me to get in touch with Ohio State. I had a couple phone calls with the coaches and eventually flew to Ohio in February to walk the campus.
Unfortunately, my parents and I had to do everything alone due to COVID and the NCAA dead period, but the coaches did an amazing job at giving us a list of all the hotspots to hit. I absolutely loved it, and I know my parents had a great time out there as well. But I wanted to wait to see them play until I made a decision, so I waited and kept in touch with the coaches here and there. Finally I felt it was the right time to verbal, and the rest is history.
What advice would you give upcoming players about recruiting?
Take. It. Slow! You don’t need to be committed within the first month of your Junior year or feel in a hurry to commit if you are a Senior. Yes, you will see countless posts on social media of players verballing, players going to your possible dream school, etc.
But trust me on this…things will always work out in the end. Take your time to really understand what you want out of a school, and what the schools contacting you can provide. It is also okay to not understand what you are looking for/want (I didn’t…AT ALL!). Take it all in… this only happens once! And yes, it is true what they say about “you will know.”
How is your spring softball season going?
Good! It feels really great to be back on the field for high school and travel ball. We just started league for high school and are 6-0 at the moment! For Tony (Rico, Firecrackers travel ball), we have practice here and there, but I know we are all just itching for summer ball. But overall, it has been great so far to see faces in person again!
You mention Coach Rico… what’s it like playing for Tony and the Firecrackers?
It has been absolutely amazing. I joined Tony’s 18u team as a 14-year-old, fast-paced player. The more I got in tune with the program and spent time with Tony, the more he helped me slow down and really understand the game mentally.
As a young player, it was weird for me to look at softball and have to train my mind/mentality instead of just playing the game. But everything is about mentality: hitting is a mentality, fielding, baserunning, everything, and I did not have that mentality when I first joined the team.. and I still don’t completely have it now. But it has made me a better player and person knowing that I have better control of my mentality.
And I absolutely love my teammates and coaches, they make everything so fun and joyous. Although only being in the organization for two and a half years, I have found that any Firecracker team’s atmosphere has been so energetic and fiery, it’s incredible.
*** Scroll down to read more on the future Buckeye including how COVID hit Skylar and her family particularly hard…