RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
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 [email protected] and also [email protected]. Also, forward via Twitter @Los_Stuff.
Here’s our TLI for Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020…
*****
THE LAST INNING MINI-Q&A
Power-hitting infielder Leilani Valencia won two state championships at Scott County High (Kentucky) before moving to Great Crossing High for her junior and senior seasons.
Her junior season was lost to Covid-19, but she will be ready to go this spring.
“Nani” has put up big numbers for Louisville Lady Sluggers-Huecker and she will follow her older sister, Princess, to Western Kentucky.
Name: LEILANI VALENCIA
Hometown: Georgetown, Kentucky
High School: Great Crossing High School
Club Team: Louisville Sluggers 18u-Huecker
Graduation Year: 2021
Height: 5-foot-9
Position: 3B/UT
Nickname: Nani
Twitter: @nani_valencia19
College: committed to Western Kentucky
High School Stats/Highlights (freshman/sophomore year): .449 AVG, .584 SLG, 10 HRs and 40 RBIs.
Travel Ball Stats/Highlights (past 3 summer seasons): .484 AVG, .857 SLG, 15 HRs and 36 RBIs.
Tell us about your travel team/organization and how you became involved with them?
The Louisville Lady Sluggers is an organization founded many years ago by Don Dobina. Coach Dobina founded our organization with the intent to give girls from Kentucky a chance at competing at the next level.
When my sister (Princess Valencia) was 14 she had the privilege to play for Don Dobina, and whenever I would come watch her games Coach D would talk to me and ask me about my games. He would always tell me I would eventually come play for him and he would make me feel like I was already a part of his team.
At 10 years old, I quickly saw him as the hero he was and it meant the world to me that he believed in me so much, so I could not wait for the day that I would be old enough to play for him.
Unfortunately, Coach D passed away several years ago and I thought I would never get the chance to compete as a Louisville Slugger. But I quickly learned the day Mrs. Dobina introduced me to Coach Jim Huecker that his wonderful legacy would live on. Last summer, I got the chance to become a Slugger and now I have the privilege to finish my final year of travel ball as a 18U Slugger playing for Coach Huecker. I would not have wanted it any other way.
During the stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus situation what new training methods did you use to stay busy?
During the stay-at-home orders I was very desperate to stay active and fit during the awful pandemic, so I took up tennis (my mom was a tennis player, so she taught me and I quickly caught on), I did crossfit at home in my backyard with online videos, I did kickboxing several times a week with a close family friend, and I went on runs every morning with my sister.
Quickly after quarantine started, I made a promise to myself that I was going to use this time to improve my game and well-being, not use it as an excuse to slack and develop lazy work habits. So I also went to the field every single day of the week with my dad and either hit or did defensive drills to be ready for the day the softball world came together again.
What is something you have faced in your life that has helped you become the person that you are today?
Something that shaped me to the person I am today is when I hurt my back my first year of 16U. We were at the Atlanta Legacy and I hurt my back sliding into second base our first game of the tournament, my left side went numb and I was unable to play the rest of the way.
I was able to rehab through physical therapy and avoid surgery through it all. It gave me a renewed outlook on life. I was lucky. This injury made me realize just how important it is to take care of your body. It also taught me to not take this game for granted because at any moment it could be taken from you and the game you once loved would be no more. I now play every game as though it could be my last because it almost was.
What’s something that people would be surprised to learn about you?
Something people would be surprised to learn about me is that my father met George Lopez once at a concert and they became friends, so when I was in 10U George Lopez sponsored my travel ball team.
Do you have a secret talent/skill?
A secret talent I have is that I can walk on my hands.
COMMITMENT ALERTS
Reagan Johnson, 2022, OF, Birmingham Thunderbolts 04-Roberson/Learned City High, TX, Arkansas
So excited to be a Razorback!!! @RazorbackSB @CoachDeifel @YoCoachYo @MattMeuchel @BhmBolts99 @Thunderbolts04 pic.twitter.com/MM6cujT8QN
— reagan johnson (@reaganojohnson) October 10, 2020
*** Scroll down to check out more of the latest verbal commits…