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.
To contribute information, insights, thoughts or content ideas, email us at info@extrainningsoftball.com and also los.extrainningsoftball@gmail.com.
Here’s our TLI for Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021…
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EXTRA SPOTLIGHT: AMIRA RODRIGUEZ
2025 P/UT Amira Rodriguez is a former USA All-American who throws in the mid-60s and recently joined Texas Riptide 07.
Rodriguez, who has played for a number of top club teams and plays for San Benito High in Texas, was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2019, but she continues to compete at the highest levels and earlier this year was honored as a Top 100 player in the 2025 Extra Elite 100.
EXTRA SPOTLIGHT Q&A
Name: AMIRA RODRIGUEZ
Hometown: San Benito, TX
High School: San Benito High
Club Team: Texas Riptide 07 14U
Graduation Year: 2025
Height: 5-foot-7
Position: RHP/UT
Nickname: A-Rod
Twitter: @AmiraARod14
Honors: Take all Honors classes and currently has a 4.0 GPA. She’s striving to graduate at least top 5 in my class. She’s a former PGF Premier national champion in 10U, a USA All-American, a SY All American and was selected SY MVP for the Class of 2025.
Travel Ball Highlights/Fall Stats:
“I have a few. I recently joined Texas Riptide and played one tournament with them this fall. We played against some talented 16s and 18s. It was a great tournament. One highlight I remember was I played shortstop and I made a great play, mind you it’s been a long minute since I played short, so I surprised myself a bit, but it was a lot of fun. I have a lot where I am super proud of myself. Of course, one would be winning the PGF Premier bracket. I was with Impact Gold (National) Smith at the time and we went undefeated the whole tourney.”
She batted .577 with 6 HRs, two triples, 11 doubles, 22 RBIs and 17 runs and she had a ERA 2.10 ERA and 41 strikeouts this past summer.
High School Highlights:
I will be a freshman this coming spring and I am super excited! My dad played at the same high school I am attending. We did some Fall Ball with our high school team and one highlight is our high school team played in a tournament and we won. I thought that was pretty cool. Go Greyhounds!
Tell us about your travel team/organization and how you became involved with them?
I am pretty familiar with the organization Texas Riptide. I have played them in 10s and majority of the girls have been with Riptide since 10s. So I thought that was cool to see familiar faces still there. So this story is pretty weird and crazy in a cool way. My parents and myself have been around the softball world for a bit, but since I got sick with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) we slowed down from travel ball a lot, like a whole year and some, but that’s another story. So, In the beginning of November, my parents and I talked about getting back out there in the travel ball world, not really looking though, but had a few teams reach out. We just decided we will wait till summer to do travel ball. And then my Dad saw a post about Riptide looking for a pitcher and he came yelling in my room, ‘Amira, you ready? Riptide coming!’ and the next day the coaches reached out to my parents and invited me to a camp. Since the camp I knew I wanted to play with these amazing group of talented girls! And the Coaches are amazing! I was surprised everyone still remembered me. The environment and chemistry of this organization/team is just different. I am so excited for this upcoming season to grow as a player and teammate. I want to be the best version of myself and they bring that out in me!
What kind of club experience do you have?
I have played travel ball since I was 9 years old. I have competed against and with some talented teams/players across the nation. I love travel ball. I’m sure at times it gets crazy! The environment is loud, intense, and a lot of pressure and I love that. I remember at one game I was pitching and I had the whole team I was playing yelling, screaming and making noise at me. And then I had two more teams join them from the stands all doing the same thing. Also, the parents as well. It was crazy but fun. It’s been a minute since I’ve played or experienced that just because I was sick. That’s why I love this sport, the competitiveness is amazing, just wow, and the level of competition drives me to get better and work harder!”
How did your club team do this past summer and in the fall? “I heard they did really great this summer and fall. They have competed with some of the best teams out there in the nation. We have some amazing talented girls and when I say girls, I mean every single girl on the team is just WOW! I am really excited for this upcoming season. It should definitely be fun to watch! Riptide Coming!”
What should we expect from your club team this summer?
For the summer, I believe we will be competing at the highest level possible. Competing and playing against 16s and maybe some 18s. We want our game to grow and the best way to do that is play the best and at the highest level possible. It is only going to make us stronger, better, give us experience, and confidence that we need to compete at that level. We want to grow as a team, and always have each others back. We want to take our talent and showcase it everywhere. It’s going to be exciting and fun.
What should we expect from your high school team this year?
High school, I expect us to have a great year and to just go out there and compete. As long as we stay working and getting better each practice and performing the way we should, we will have a great year!
What are some of your training methods and what are the results?
For hitting, I like T-work, you can never get enough of that. And front toss. I like to break down my swing while on the T, and put it altogether at the end for front toss. Me and my Dad could be out there all day! We have an open field down the street from where we live and that’s where we get our work in. My goal for hitting is to incorporate more of my hips. For pitching, I do drills and exercises that help with my core, speed, leg drive and arm circle. Right now, my top speed has been clocked at 67 (mph). I throw consistently at 62-66 and when I feel real good and warmed up, nothing falls below 65. My goal come summer time is I want my top speed to be 70 and I want to consistently throw 66-69. Every practice is about consistency, repetitions, mechanics, the simplest fundamental skills that will make me better.
What have you been through that has made you the person you are today?
So now I can tell you my story, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). For my age, it’s also called Juvenile Arthritis, Polyarticular Arthritis in 7th grade, 2019. It is a chronic progressive disabling disease that has no cure. It causes inflammation, swelling and pain in and around the joints and other body organs. This can lead to joint deformity and bone erosion, it can also affect organs like my eyes, lungs, heart, blood vessels and my skin.
At the beginning I was in so much pain I could barely walk, I couldn’t even lift my arms, everything on my body felt like it was going to fall off. My jaw, shoulders, hip, knees, ankles, wrists, even the small tiny joints in my fingers all hurt. Some days I would wake up and I would tell myself, ‘Please, be OK. Please, be OK.’ And I would move just a little and it hurt so bad, instantly I would cry. I never felt pain like this before. I wanted to just lay there instead all day and not move! My parents had to help me walk, they had to shower me, they had top help me get dressed for school. All the easiest things you could do, I needed help with because everything hurt. It was like this for months till we saw a specialist. She instantly knew where my pain was. She started me on multiple medications to got me feeling better and most of all pain free. This time in my life I really thought softball was over for me. My Dr. said it would probably be best if I just quit softball because it would be hard on my body and I was more injury prone now. This is where it got tough for me and where I took my long break and I focused everything on my health and getting better. Sure I had days where it got tough for me, I really did want to give up just because I knew I was never going to be the same player I was. I just wanted to be a normal kid. I would see former teammates excelling and just doing great things. I wanted that for myself not because I was sick, but because I worked so hard leading up to this.
It made me wonder and tell myself, ‘This is nothing.’ I believe some kids, some families have it far worse than me. And I wasn’t going to lose everything I worked so hard for to some illness I have. This motivated me, matured me, gave me more responsibility and that I needed to be strong both mentally and physically. I am learning to live with RA, learning to listen to my body, learning to take better care of my body physically and mentally. I take multiple medications every day, weekly injections, and bi-weekly injections and without them I would probably still be in pain. The goal is to live without my medication one day, but till then this makes me feel pain free. I never want to feel like that again, my life instantly changed and I never want to go back. Yes, I know some days will be harder and get harder, and some days I will have flare ups, but the good thing is I know now.
I have learned so much and I am still learning. As a player, I will never be that same player I was, but now I look at myself and I am a better and stronger player/person because of what happened to me. I will continue to be great. My new and improved version is just getting started. I will never be the Amira that is sick … never. I will and only will be just Amira. I am super blessed and thankful for everything in my life. As long as I am healthy and 100, I will give and always continue to give this sport my all.
Do you have a secret talent/skill?
Yes, one thing I enjoy is drawing and painting. I enjoy doing portraits and right now I’ve been painting shoes.
What’s your most memorable softball story? It can be humorous, serious, ironic or all of the above?
One of my most memorable softball stories is PGF in 10U. So I had missed some spring season because I was injured, but now looking back that injury was part of my RA. My Dr. tells me my body was telling me something is wrong and I was having a flare up. So I didn’t train, no pitching for like months, maybe 5-6 months, nothing. My team at the time was Impact Gold Smith and they were headed to PGF. My goal at the time was to make PGF and win it. So, long story short, they ended up taking me, I went and they asked if I wanted to throw a little and I did. I haven’t thrown or pitched a ball in 5-6 months. I ended up pitching a few games that tournament and our team went undefeated the whole tourney and we won the whole thing. I was super proud of myself. I was part of that PGF Premier National Champion and I am super blessed to have been part of that team and organization. I thought that was a pretty cool moment and experience I had.
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*** Scroll down to check out 13 more commits and signings including two 2023 standouts headed to the SEC!
