Rick Stiebel/B次元官网网址 Staff

Five local softball players are set to swing for the fences in Texas.

Teammates Hallie Holland, Lauren Thomas, Carmen Eilertsen, Zoe Lott and Ali Henderson will attend Grayson College in Denison, Texas on scholarships this year. The five friends, all members of the Victoria Devils U19 softball team, earned silver medals at the provincial championship that took place on July 20 to 21 at Softball City in Surrey.

Saanich resident Eilertsen, who pitches and plays in the outfield, graduated from Lambrick Park in 2018 and attended Grayson College last year.

Holland, also from Saanich, graduated from Lambrick Park Secondary this year. She plays third base and catcher, while pitcher/outfielder Lott graduated from St. MichaelB次元官网网址檚 and is from Saanich as well. Colwood resident Thomas graduated from Royal Bay Secondary this year and plays catcher and third base. Henderson, a Langford resident, plays second base and shortstop.

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B次元官网网址淚 am extremely excited to fulfil my longtime softball dreams,B次元官网网址� said Henderson, who graduated from Belmont Secondary in June. B次元官网网址淭o receive a scholarship to attend Grayson College and play the game of softball is truly a dream come true. The major bonus is being able to join four of my Devils teammates. ItB次元官网网址檚 extremely rare that five players from Victoria end up on the same college team. WeB次元官网网址檝e played together for many years in countless tournaments on Vancouver Island, the mainland and in the U.S., and weB次元官网网址檙e all looking forward to playing together in the next chapter of our softball careers.B次元官网网址�

The teamB次元官网网址檚 head coach, Kevin Bobroske, said although heB次元官网网址檚 seen a lot of players earn scholarships to U.S. schools, this is the first time itB次元官网网址檚 happened for five players from the same team.

B次元官网网址淲hat an opportunity it is for them to share the experience together,B次元官网网址� Bobroske noted. B次元官网网址淚 think the positive chemistry theyB次元官网网址檝e developed on the field will be a huge benefit to Grayson. Having five head to the same school says a lot about the quality of players that play with the Devils.B次元官网网址�

Bobroske, a player with CanadaB次元官网网址檚 gold medal team at the Pan-American Games in 1999, has coached for 20 years, including six years with the University of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 womenB次元官网网址檚 team. He praised the efforts of Rocky Vitale, director of the baseball and fastball academies at Lamrick Park Secondary. B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 been instrumental in helping determine where players will fit in best with schools across the U.S.,B次元官网网址� Bobroske explained. B次元官网网址淎lmost all of the graduating players from the U19 team that won gold three years ago have landed scholarships at a variety of U.S. schools. ItB次元官网网址檚 a big stepping stone for moving onto the NCAA, and a lot of that is made possible by Rocky.B次元官网网址�

rick.stiebel@goldstreamgazette.com

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