Softball has given me so much in life. It's taught me the kind of person I want to be, and given me a sweet sisterhood. It even led me to my husband.

When I was 12, I had a coach tell me I would never be a championship pitcher. That devastated me. I was crushed.

I loved being on the field playing and teaching softball. I didn't like the fact that a camp had my name on it and I didn't know the logistics of what was going on. I wanted to make sure I was involved in a camp that did things right.

Our sports [softball] is a game of failure already so my dad always says to parents who he is a pitching coach and he's been my pitching coach since I was 11 years old is if they can be the best kid on the team, let them experience that and then obviously the challenge has to come later on but you don't get that opportunity very often and confidence is such a huge part of this game and in life in general.

You can't always control the circumstances - only how you react to those circumstances; you can always control your attitude and your effort.

I may be wearing makeup, but I can throw a fastball by you at the same time.

Growing up, I looked up to major league baseball players, and now these young women have amazing, incredible women all across the board, from swimming to gymnastics to softball to basketball.