NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (EYT/D9) — When Quinn White was just four, her grandfather handed her a bat and pitched to her in his back yard.
“Ever since then,” White said, “I’ve loved the sport.”
White took to softball quickly. It didn’t take long for her to excel.
She was a star wherever she played, lashing line drives to all fields and playing stellar defense.
Now a freshman shortstop on the Redbank Valley softball team, she has already emerged as a feared hitter for a young and talented Bulldog team.
“A lot of people have told me in past years and even recently that I have a lot of talent and potential to go really far with the sport,” White said. “I’m motivated to keep working on it and keep getting better.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
White has started her high school career with a bang.
After going 0 for 2 in a season-opening loss to West Shamokin, White hit for the cycle against Clarion, going 4 for 4 in an 18-3 victory.
Two days later in a wild 15-14 loss to Karns City, White went 5 for 5, including a two-run homer that tied that game at 14-14 with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.
At the time, White had no clue she had hit for the cycle, went 5 for 5 or had hits in nine straight at bats.
She found that out later.
“After I hit my home run (against Clarion), which is the first one I’ve ever hit, it was really exciting,” White said. “I was just trying to make good contact with the ball. After the game, my mom and dad were like, ‘You hit for the cycle.’ I was like, ‘What? No way.’ When I went 5 for 5, I didn’t know that, either. Again, I was just trying to make good contact.”
That hasn’t been a problem over the years for White, who takes softball seriously.
She did take a year off in the fifth grade, focusing instead on basketball.
White played AAU, but discovered quickly that she missed softball terribly.
That one year hiatus galvanized her love for the sport, she said.
“I knew I wanted to come back,” White said. “That’s when I knew I wanted to keep playing softball and keep working at it and I wanted to make a comeback.”
White, who turned in a solid season off the bench for the Redbank Valley girls basketball team, is serious about softball.
She’s been able to balance both sports well.
“Basketball season is like six months,” White said. “(Redbank Valley girls basketball coach Chris Edmonds) likes to do stuff over the summer, so I have two months off and then he’d gonna want to start open gyms agains because we have a team camp every year. It’s pretty time consuming, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. That’s my life. I love it.”
White plays for a travel team, the PA Lunachicks.
“I know, the name’s weird,” White said, laughing. “I’m really glad to be a part of it. I love the girls on it. It’s nice to meet some new people and play with a lot of different girls.”
White is excited to see what Redbank can do this season.
The Bulldogs have started 1-3, but have lost two games by a combined three runs.
White is batting .733 (11 of 15) with two home runs, three doubles, a triple and six RBIs.
She hasn’t struck out.
White has shown no signs of letting up at the plate. She’s not satisfied.
“I don’t like to make mistakes,” White said. “I’m in my own head sometimes. But the team picks me back up and I forget about it. I work on it in the next practice.
“I really want to improve on being able to backhand the ball because I know right now I’m trying to get in front of it whenever I’m moving to the side and it’s causing me to bobble it,” White said. “That’s something I’m going to focus on the next couple of practices and hopefully get down so I don’t make errors again.”
White’s longterm goal is simple.
She wants to play in college.
“Ever since I came back after that one year I quit, I’ve set a goal for myself that I was going to work hard enough to hopefully get a chance to play college ball,” White said. “But I wouldn’t get there without my team.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
