Natalie Minkler is a senior at Glendale High School, and she is one of the pitchers for our varsity softball team. She has been on the team for four years, and she is currently our head captain. She was born in Glendale, and some of her favorite hobbies include playing softball, reading, and crafting.
When Natalie was three years old, she first played baseball. Then when she was eight, she played softball on a Little League team. Her father inspired her to play the game. “He pushed me to work on it because he noticed I liked it,” she said. He also encouraged her to get better as the years went by.
For Natalie, the most interesting aspect of softball is pitching. She likes keeping the batters off the plate. “I like to control the game,” she said.
A challenge for Natalie is not knowing if she’s good enough to be on the softball team. “We get through it and work hard,” she claimed. “Softball is a game of failure, so you’re not going to be perfect all the time.”
Natalie has been a player on the team for her entire high school career. “I played softball my whole life, and I stayed because it’s a really good program,” she said. Everyone on the team is close.
Last year, the varsity captain, Jazmin Combs, would lead instructions and she would help Natalie most of the time. “A lot is hard for one person to do,” Natalie admitted. She has stayed committed, and she knows how to handle all the practices, as well as the games.
Natalie loves competing as a Nitro athlete, and it never feels like an obligation to be there. The only thing that matters is to have fun, as well as playing with the people you enjoy.
The most difficult part for Natalie is sticking to softball. “It’s kinda disappointing when people don’t want to put in the effort,” she said.
Natalie feels like her coaches are pretty chill this year. They can be “hard,” but “in a good way,” to help the team get better. “Coach Forrest he is nice,” Natalie said. “But if we mess up, or he sees our effort,”he tells us so we can get better at those aspects.”
One of the team’s goals is to get more wins this year, because last year they didn’t do that well. However, Natalie believes that the only thing that matters is to have fun!
Natalie thinks that everyone should join her team, because softball is really fun. You will learn to be a part of a team with great people. It always helps people to learn teamwork, especially communication, because you have to put in a lot of work while playing. It also teaches people that it’s okay to mess up, as long you keep going on.
Natalie has big plans after she leaves GHS. “After I graduate, I want to go to a four-year university to study engineering, especially aerospace engineering, depending on what school I go to,” she said. “Also, I might play softball in college, but [it] depends on the school.” She wants to work for a private engineering company, like SpaceX, JPL, or NASA.
After graduation, Natalie is going to miss a lot of her teammates, especially this year. There are only three seniors, and having to leave everyone behind will be difficult. “I’m going miss [everyone], especially the freshman,” she said. “They’re like my babies, and I [will] just miss the environment.”
If you are interested in being a part of the GHS softball team, please contact Coach Forrest at [email protected].
