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Get on board with Extra Inning Softball’s regular feature, The Last Inning!
We are scouring the Internet and Social Media and keeping our ears to the street for the latest going on in the softball community.
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Here’s our TLI for Wednesday, April 20:
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EXTRA SPOTLIGHT: ELLIE HAGGARD
Multi-sport star Ellie Haggard, a 5-foot-10 2024 SS/UT, recently talked to Extra Inning Softball about the Illinois Stars, Bradley Bourbonnais Community High, playing/training multiple sports, recruiting, juggling and walk-off homers.
EXTRA SPOTLIGHT Q&A
Name: Ellie Haggard
Hometown: Bourbonnais, IL
High School: Bradley Bourbonnais Community High
Club Team: Illinois Stars 16U-Pusateri
Graduation Year: 2024
Height: 5-foot-10
Position: SS/UT
Nickname: El
Twitter: @ellie_haggard12
Honors: High Honor Roll; 4.046 GPA; #133 in the Class of 2024 (2021); #76 Middle Infielder in the Class of 2024 (2021); All-Summer 14U Team (2021); Softball — 1st Team Southwest Suburban All-Conference (2021); 1st Team Daily Journal All-Area (2021); and runner-Up National Player of the Week by Extra Inning Softball (2022); Basketball — 1st Team Daily Journal All-Area (2021); Team Rebounding Excellence Award (2021); 1st Team Southwest Suburban All-Conference (2022); 1st Team Daily Journal All-Area (2022); and Team Offensive Excellence Award (2022).
Travel Ball Highlights/Fall Stats: 2021 Record of 65-21. Helped my team qualify for PGF Premier Nationals; 5th place in the USAES WFC in Kansas; 5th place in the PGF Top Gun; 1st place in USA Elite Heartland; 1st place in Triple Crown Queen of Diamonds; 3rd place in PGF King of the Hill; and 1st place in PGF National Qualifier Indiana; Fall Batting Stats: 27 GP, .463 AVG, .538 OBP, 1.434 OPS, .896 SLG, 31 hits, 8 doubles, 3 triples, 5 HRs, 29 RBIs; Fall Fielding Stats — .969 fielding percentage.
High School Stats: She’s batting .558 AVG with a .620 OBP, 1,922 OPS, 1.302 SLG, 5 doubles, 3 triples, 7 HRs, 19 runs and 19 RBIs so far this season.
Tell us about your travel team/organization and how you became involved with them…
I play for the Illinois Stars, which is a very strong regional team in the south suburbs of Chicago that started in 2008. I have grown up in the organization starting at age 11. My current Coach is Tony Pusateri, who founded the Stars. I cannot thank Coach Tony enough for helping me grow as a leader and a player. He always pushes us to do our best and play at the highest level we can.
Can you talk about your experience at Bradley-Bourbonnais High?
BBCHS has over 2,000 students and offers a lot of opportunities for academics and athletics. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have had a normal high school experience yet due to COVID, but we are all making the best of it. Since freshman year I have been a three-sport varsity athlete, which has been fun and I have met a lot of new people. I am also a member of the schools Best Buddies program and enjoy doing activities with my Buddy.
How do you balance playing multiple sports at such a high level?
I don’t know what a day off is and I love it. I currently play three high school varsity sports (volleyball, basketball and softball), I play on two travel sports teams (volleyball and softball), and do weekly private softball training and weight lifting. I could not be a multi-sport athlete without the support of my parents, the sacrifices of my brother, and the understanding of my teammates. I also have two high school coaches — Haylee Beck (HB) and Liz Bart-Swindle — that are great role models.
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