Quite the Holiday Weekend
So how was your 2023 Easter Weekend?
For one talented middle schooler from Texas, it will be one she will long remember, and it had nothing to do with collecting easter eggs or being considered as having the cutest Easter outfit.
Maybe it’s because Macie Bryant—the outstanding pitcher from Barber’s Hill, Texas, and a member of the powerful Impact Gold 2K9 National travel ball team—was too busy collecting strikeouts and wins for Team USA at the U-15 Pan American Women’s Championship as well as being considered the No. 1 player in her 2027 graduating class.
“My weekend was definitely something I will never forget,” she told Extra Inning Softball earlier on Monday. “I got to play on the first ever U-15 team, and we won going undefeated.”
And Macie got to close out the Pan Am tourney herself by getting a strikeout for her Eagles squad that, in eight games over the last week, scored 113 runs and allowed all of… no runs. That’s right–nary a run the whole week for the Red, White & Blue’s pitching staff.
Macie certainly did her share to help Team USA, compiling a 2-0 record and giving up just two hits in eight innings tossed with no walks, no runs and a staggering 21 strikeouts (an average of 2.6 per inning!).
The hurler punched out the final out on Saturday in the team’s 9-0 title win Mexico and then began the celebration she’ll always treasure.
*** Here’s the entire championship game on YouTube; go to the 1:53:36 mark to see Macie get the final out!
“My weekend was definitely something I will never forget,” she recalls. “I got to play on the first ever U-15 team and we won going undefeated.”
And the who she did it with, for the pitcher herself, was just as important as winning the trophy.
“I’m just so proud of how all the girls learned how to play with each other and, if someone made an error, there was always someone picking them up.”
Family Support
It was also special for one other huge reason: her mother, Tiffany, was there supporting the talented pitcher.
“Yes I’m so glad I had my mom there to support me. My Dad might be the one who works with me, but my mom is my BIGGEST supporter!”
Not that her father, Jared, wasn’t following the games or his daughter’s progress, mind you. In fact, the coach/dad told us that he took one for the team—i.e. his wife, in this case—to support his favorite softball player from home.
“I drew Japan,” he laughs, referring to this team’s next international trip which he’ll attend, “because Peru was much shorter of a flight and my wife hates flying!”
And that, if you’re following closely at home, is the secret sauce in Macie’s great success and accomplishments to date: her love for, and from, her family.
“My relationship with my family is my biggest priority,” the softball standout admits, “and all of them are so loving and supportive. They make so many sacrifices for me just so I can travel all over the country playing the game I love.”
Not only play it, but dominate in it.
As was written in her No. 1 player bio last Friday:
During the 2022 season with her Impact Gold 2K9 National team, Macie had an absolutely eye-popping 823 strikeouts in 390 innings while posting a record of 86-2!
Averaging 2.11 strikeouts per inning is unheard of for an entire year, but that’s the reality that club players—and now players across Central and South American—have had to deal with when facing the dominating Texan.
One club coach commented:
“Macie commands the zone better than any power pitcher that I have seen and does so with an incredible spin rate.”
Her velocity is definitely in the “elite of elite class” with consistent 63-to-65 mph velos and she touched 66 mph in games several times in 2022. Throwing spin pitches with that kind of velocity in all directions and being able to come back with a low to mid 40’s mph change up that looks like it has wings on it, Macie was nearly unhittable over the last year.
In addition to the championship won this week at the Pan American Championship, this middle schooler has already been on teams that have won:
- Alliance Nationals in Oklahoma
- PGF in Tennessee
- Colorado Sparkler in, well, Colorado (duh)
- and an unbelievable 16 tournaments in a row
… and also had another career highlight when she was tabbed on Friday as the No. 1 player in the updated 2027 Extra Elite 100.
What did Macie think when she was told directly on the eve of the announcement that she was going to be No. 1?
“I worked very hard to be considered No. 1, but there is a lot of tough competition in the 2027 class, too,” she responded diplomatically. “The first thought that flashed through my mind was going back to the days where I just wanted to sit in my bed, but I still got up and got my work in because I knew that it only makes me better.”
Not just better, but impressively better to the point that when Extra Inning Softball reached out to over 150 club coaches, she was the clear-cut No. 1 mentioned player in her class—by many of the coaches who’ve competed directly against her.
And that, Macie attributes, to her pitching skills, sure, but also to her working hard to lock in the cerebral part of the game.
“I would say my biggest strength on the field other than pitching is my mental mindset,” Macie continues. “I’m able to block out everything and just focus on pitching.”
Hated It… The Beginning
What’s crazy, now, is to think that when the Lone Star State standout started in softball, she really didn’t like the sport… as in she hated it.
“At age 5,” her father recalls, “Mace played her first year of softball and all she wanted to do was sit in the stands with us—mainly with her Grandpa—and we actually had to ask him to hide until the games were over.”
“To be honest,” the athlete herself remembers, “I hated everything I did when I was little, but once my Dad started coaching me, I started loving softball.
Reread that last line:
“Once my Dad started coaching me, I started loving softball.”
Macie was barely six years old way back then but, like a light bulb clicking on, the whole perspective changed when her father entered the dugout.
“She still wasn’t very good in comparison to her peers,” Coach Bryant admits, “and she didn’t make the All-Star team that season. Mace came crying to me because she didn’t understand why some of her friends got to continue playing and she didn’t.”
But here’s where the story gets good (cue the Rocky music, for those old enough to remember)…
What it Takes to Make It
“That was the first conversation I had with her about how if she practiced hard and outworked everyone she would never get overlooked again,” her father explains.
“The next day, we were in the yard practicing for the next season. That’s when I knew that Mace had the determination and resolve it takes to be good at this game.”
It didn’t come immediately, it took time but like all good things, it was worth the wait.
“It was definitely a gradual trend up,” her coach/father believes. “When Mace first started pitching, two of her best friends also pitched. They had a friendly competition and pushed each other. I believe that starting at a young age and being in a competitive environment helped with the development.
She also had tremendous support at home, which she still does to this day, and that’s been huge, all agree.
Coach Bryant works in a Texas refinery with long and taxing 12 hour shifts where he rotates days, nights and weekends but still does whatever he can to help his daughter and team get better in fastpitch.
“Yes, I schedule pretty much everything around softball,” he confesses, “whether it’s for our team or for Macie’s workouts.
The young athlete knows she’s pushed out of love and appreciates the sacrifices her father makes for her.
“Since 6-U,” she begins, “my Dad has been there through the ups and downs and he coaches me really hard, but I know it’s because he loves me and wants me to continue to get better. My Dad inspires me because he does shift work and, no matter how he is feeling, he always finds a way to make sure I get my work in.”
She has another big fan cheering her on in big brother Caleb, who is 26 years old and lives in Pearland, Texas.
“He and she (brother and sister) have a pretty good age gap,” their father explains. “Caleb was 12 when we had Mace and, though he wasn’t into sports at all—believe me, I tried!— from time to time, Caleb will send me a message saying something about how Macie killing it and how he’s so proud of her.”
Asked to describe herself on the field—at least by how people refer to her—Macie says she’s a “bulldog” who’s also “serious” when not competing.
Macie had to be serious and sober—more than, many would say, is fair to ask of a kid her age— during the Christmas break when beloved teammate and fellow 2027 standout Mo Wilson passed away without warning.
“Losing my sister and teammate ‘Mo3,’’she muses… “I’m never gonna really overcome it because anytime I do anything softball-related, Mo is with me.”
*** Click HERE to read more on Mo, who meant so much to so many including her Impact coaches and teammates.
Looking Ahead
On the lighter side, Macie does admit to having her share of superstitions and routines she follows on her pathways to success.
“Yes, I’ll just name a few,” she starts: “I have to walk on the left side on the mound after every pitch, I have to wear the same ponytails and same hairstyle, and I have a good luck ball that I use to warm up with before every game.”
Whatever she’s doing, the pitcher is doing it very, very well and, though appreciative of her being honored as the top player in her class, she’s received good instruction from someone she trusts in not taking it too seriously.
“Nothing changes,” Macie replies with anything will change about herself and her game moving forward. “My process stays the same and my Dad told our whole team that, when the rankings come out, it doesn’t make a difference of how hard you work—whether you are No. 1 or 1,000.”
And her father, loving but encouraging that he is, says Macie has plenty more work to do.
“They say it takes 10,000 hours to master something,” Coach Bryant concludes. “We have practiced pitching at least 10 hours per week for about seven years now so that’s 3,360 hours.”
“We still have a lot of work to do.”
Yikes… it’s scary to think how much better Macie could be with another 6,640 hours of practice and play under her belt!
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
*****
EXTRA INSIGHTS: 10 More Quick-Hitters with Macie Bryant
What’s your favorite softball item, like a preferred bat, glove, etc.?
My glove is like my baby!
Favorite item(s) in your closet:
Probably all my softball shirts I get from tournaments.
Favorite school subject:
Math.
Best way to unwind is…
Watching Netflix or listening to music
What’s playing in your headphones right now?
If I had headphones on, I would be listening to Adele or SZA.
Celebrity you’d like most to hang out with…
Kevin Hart because he is so funny!
Calories aside, what food could you eat and never get sick of?
Chick-fil-A!
What drives you to play the game of softball?
The challenge and competition that come with it.
What have you learned most about yourself over the last year or two?
I’ve learned that I’m really good at handling pressure.
When you leave the game of softball, how do you want to be remembered and what will you do when you’re finished playing to help grow the game?
I want to be remembered as someone who was dedicated and very coachable. I want to be a pitching coach somewhere when I grow up to help grow the game.
