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 Tuesday, Feb. 22:
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EXTRA SPOTLIGHT: MARIAH HOPKINS
SS Mariah Hopkins has helped bring a winning mindset back to Cordova High in NorCal, she coaches young players and she hopes to play in college one day. The talented amateur artist recently talked to Extra Inning Softball about her softball journey so far…
EXTRA SPOTLIGHT Q&A
Name: Mariah Hopkins
Hometown: Rancho Cordova, CA
High School: Cordova High
Club Team (age group): NorCal Bandits 18U-Avina 2023
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 6-foot
Position: SS
Twitter: @Mhopkins2023
Travel Ball Highlights/Fall Stats: Qualified and competed at USA Nationals (2020); Pennsbury Invitational (2020 and 2021); and Team New Jersey (2021).
Honors: MaxPreps selection for All-San Joaquin Section Team (2021); All-Metro Team (2021) by Sacramento Bee; and All-League (2021).
Tell us about your travel team/organization and how you became involved with them?
I started playing travel ball when I was 8 years old. I went to a few different tryouts and ended up with the NorCal Bandits. My first season, I didn’t play much. I was the youngest and smallest player on the team, which made it hard for me to earn my spot. I worked with my dad on the weekends — our off days to get better. We all saw a big difference as I got better and stronger. I earned my spot and since then have never let up and continued grinding. I even started working out with our strength coach to get stronger and faster when I was about 10 years old.
Can you tell us about your experience at Cordova High and what we should expect from the Lancers this season?
2021 was the first time in a while that the Lancers won league. Our wins against Folsom and Ponderosa were really big. We’re looking pretty good this year and we’re hoping to get to playoffs and compete against more schools. We’re excited for this season and how far we’ve come.
Can you talk about your experience as a coach?
I love working with younger teams and helping them get better while having fun. Since I am still young and playing, it is easy to relate to them and also learn from them. It’s a cool thing to be able to see everything from a different perspective. I’m used to being the player and seeing things from that point of view, but being a coach, it gives you a different understanding of the game.
Many Bandits alumni come back after finishing college and coach our younger teams. One of my current coaches played for the Bandits and I lifted and trained with her and now she’s back and coaching. She’s also coaching our 12U and 10U team that I’ve been helping. I hope that someday I’m able to come back after college and give back to the organization and coach a team like the girls before me.
Do you have a secret talent/skill?
I’m very creative. I love drawing and painting. I’ve always loved art growing up. Other than playing softball, my hobbies are arts and crafts. I often draw and paint on my free time.
What’s your most memorable softball story?
My last year in Rec-ball, my team won the “TOCs.” I was 8 years old, the youngest on my team. I wasn’t even supposed to be playing with the older girls because of that, but I went to tryouts and made the team! My anxiety and asthma was taking over and so in the middle of innings I would have to call “time” to take my inhaler.
Despite all of that, I pitched the whole game and struck everyone out. We already knew we were going to win that game. Parents already had t-shirts custom made for everyone and bottles of apple cider. When the game was over and we won, everyone dog piled in the middle of the field on top of me, then we all got our shirts on and popped the bottles. It was so much fun. For the rest of the night, we played “We Are The Champions” by Queen.
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NEWS & NOTES
***TLI loves nicknames and how players get nicknames and what sticks. Hotshots Premier-Chism 2027 3B/SS Lily Reynolds is known as “Munk.”
“I was so little when I started playing ball, my step-dad said I was a munchkin,” Reynolds said.
“He started calling me ‘Munk’ and it just stuck.”
*** Scroll down to read more in today’s News & Notes including some promising 2026 Extra Elite 100 candidates, and more ’22 and ’23 commits!
