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How was your week?
If you’re a junior softball player looking to play at the college next, you hopefully have received interest from programs you’re interested in.
For one player from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the start of the DI live recruiting period on September 1 started off with a bang as she received her very first call at midnight and more than a dozen calls, emails and texts before the day was through.
And it really didn’t slow down from there for Yessenia Lopez, a 2024 Extra Elite pitcher/infielder who plays for her older sister, Amanda Lopez, her head coach on the Florida Gold – Lopez team out of South Florida.
This summer, the talented pitcher/infielder really emerged as one of the top players in her class as she pitched 129 innings and had 218 strikeouts with a 1.30 ERA and a .150 batting average against. The 5-foot-9 junior throws in the mid-to-high 60’s with a top speed clocked by a DI coach of 69 mph at the Colorado Sparkler.
Amanda, her loving older sibling, has coached the Florida Gold team for over three years and is about as involved in fastpitch as you can be: she’s also the head high school coach at Somerset Academy Silver Palms in Pembroke Pines, Florida and during the summer she even coached the Puerto Rico team at the TCI International Challenge in Colorado where the team won Silver.
Together, the sisters shared a wonderful Sept. 1 together as all the hard work the two have put in paid off with a busy day of communicating with DI college coaches.
Extra Inning Sports asked the two to share their feelings about the kickoff to the DI recruiting period and all the interest Yessenia received… here’s what they had to say!
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: What were your thoughts and feelings the week before the Sept. 1 Division I contact period started?
Amanda: As I coach, I was definitely excited as I get to hear from all the coaches before my girls do so I knew a little bit beforehand who was getting what. I wanted to stress to my girls this was only the start of their careers not the end that entire week we went about practice as usual and I sat and had a really good conversation with my girls about this day and made sure they knew this should be exciting, not stressful.
Yessenia: I kind of kept low expectations because I knew it was just the beginning so I didn’t want to put so much pressure on myself. I was definitely excited but didn’t really know what to expect. I knew I had worked hard for this and hoped it was enough.
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: How about the day before (Aug. 31)?
Amanda: I was anxious and barely slept for the three days prior; I just wanted it to come so fast! My kids have been chasing a dream for so long and it was about to come true! Those last 24 hours were the longest (laughs)!
Yessenia: Honestly, I was trying to keep my mind off of it. I didn’t want to stress because I knew it would happen whenever it did. I forced myself to think about it as the first day of the next two years.
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: Were you hearing from previously non-DI schools, who could recruit or talk to you?
Amanda: We heard from a lot of non-D1 schools and it was the same excitement across the board as every division needs to be celebrated as the highest achievement because it is just that: getting your education and playing softball at any division is an honor.
Yessenia: I got contacted from a few non-D1 schools and it was amazing to get to talk to them and see schools across the country. The division never mattered to me—it was always the feel of the school. Talking to them made me much more comfortable talking to any other school.
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: Amanda, what were your thoughts and feelings heading into Sept. 1? It had to be exciting yet nerve-wracking, too, for you as sister and head coach!
Amanda: I was restless and couldn’t wait for the day to come. It was nerve-wracking, for sure, the “will they/won’t they?” is always in the back of your head but the feeling was mostly surreal because the kids you essentially watched grow up are about to see all the hard work matter that they put!
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: Once the hour struck midnight on Sept. 1, how did that go? Were you both on your cell phones?
Amanda: I was on my cell phone from 9 am to 2 am, doing my last-minute texts/calls/emails, just checking up on my girls and doing what had to be done!
Yessenia: I honestly took a nap beforehand, then once the clock struck 12 my phone rang. My dad woke me up and when I heard: “Hi this is Coach Pat Murphy…” that’s when I knew this was very real.
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: Who called you before you “went to bed” that morning?
Yessenia: Everyone respected the concept of sleep so my call from Alabama went super quick and then we spoke later that day. Everyone else texted or emailed me and we set up calls for that day. I got contacts from Alabama, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Central Florida, Florida Atlantic, Penn, North Carolina State, Florida Gulf Coast, Arizona State, Arizona State, Georgia, Rhode Island, Mercer, Louisiana-Monroe, Delaware and Auburn.
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: How long were the calls and what were they generally saying?
Yessenia: The longest call I had was like 20 minutes the shortest was like 5 minutes. Most of them touched on the softball aspect of it for a good couple minutes but most of it was about me as a person; they reiterated that I’m gonna be with them for a long time so they had to get to know me well first.
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: Did any school offer you on the initial call?
Yessenia: No, we mostly set up calls and visits so I can feel out the campus and team before offering but several did say that when I get out there we’ll talk offers.
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: Then what was the day like? How did it play out?
Yessenia: My dad and I had to make a chart of what schools we had responded to. I had a bunch of calls that we had set up and we went through each of them when we had time. I was on a visit on the 1st so it was very overwhelming trying to be respectful to the school I was at and also respecting the time that everyone that was calling and texting. It was really hard getting back to everyone but I did. My phone didn’t stop buzzing from 7 am to almost midnight the next morning. I spoke to a lot of schools and the whole thing was so humbling.
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EXTRA INNING SOFTBALL: Now, looking back on Sept. 1, what are your thoughts?
Amanda: My advice to players is: “Stay where your feet are, life comes super-fast.” Everyone looks forward to this day and then, when it comes, everything moves 100 miles a minute and before you know it everything you worked for is finally here. Take your time and enjoy the ride!
Yessenia: The whole process is super surreal, all my whole life I’ve had people tell me “You’re gonna be something special and you’re gonna get calls,” but when it really happened I almost didn’t believe it. The moment comes and goes so fast and everything about it was amazing and this is one day I won’t forget.
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball