Derrick Webb, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — If you catch Abbie Marshall without a smile on the softball field, you’ve caught a rare moment.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
In fact, it’s ultra-rare.
Unioto’s junior catcher constantly sports her ear-to-ear grin while playing the game she loves … and she just so happens to be extremely good at it, too.
With Marshall at the heart of the Tanks’ order, the team has compiled a 21-3 mark alongside a sectional championship, a title they won on Wednesday with a 3-0 decision over Waverly.
Now, it’s onto district tournament play.
But before it happens, we caught up with Marshall to discuss why she’s constantly smiling, her favorite characteristics of this year’s group, the key to Unioto’s success and much more.
Question: To say that this may be the best team Unioto has had in quite some time is putting it lightly. What’s been the key to the success?
Answer: A big key to success this year is definitely our team chemistry. It doesn’t matter if we’re out on the field taking some reps, in the barn hitting, or in the dugout during pregame … we’re always having fun when we’re together. But another big key to our success is that we know when to be serious and when we can have fun. I think that can be a tough thing to do sometimes, but I believe it’s something we do very well.
Q: Almost every time I see you play, you’ve got that smile showing. Where does your love of the game come from and why is that smile constantly evident?
A: My love for the game 100 percent has come from my dad. My dad has always been one of my biggest supporters. He has pushed me to always play to my full potential and never take a play off, but has always made sure I was happy and enjoying what I was doing. That goes with every sport, not just softball. Although, softball is the reason my dad and I are so close. If it weren’t for his love and support throughout all of the years, my passion for softball would be nowhere near where it is today. It’s very important to me that I try to keep a constant smile to show my appreciation for the sport. It has done a lot more for me than I’ve done for it and I try my best not to take a single moment for granted.
Q: You’re coming off volleyball and basketball seasons where you went on deep tournament runs. What have you learned as a player during that time when it comes to postseason play?
A: Once you get into postseason play, you have to adopt a win or go home mentality. Tournament time is a completely different feeling than the regular season. During the regular season, you can depend on having another game within the next couple of days to prove yourself. But once you get into tournament games, you only get one chance. In the midst of all that, you also have to keep taking it one game at a time and not get too far ahead of yourself.
Q: What’s your favorite part about this team?
A: My favorite part of this team is, without a doubt, our resilience. There have been multiple times when we have found ourselves in a big hole and just about every time, we’ve found a way out of it. I believe it all comes back to our team chemistry and the amount of trust that everyone has for each other. Staying positive and believing in our team is why we are having such a successful season.
Q: There isn’t a weak spot in your lineup. How much fun is it to play in an offense that can explode at any point?
A: Playing with this team is so much fun. Our team is loaded with so much talent and I love being a part of something special. You never know what to expect when coming to watch our games. But I can promise you that it will always be exciting.
Q: How do you finish the job? What are the team’s goals and how do you go about reaching them?
A: From the very first game this season, our thing has been to take it one game at a time. Our biggest goal coming into every game is to just leave with a win. If we continue to do that, then that is how we will finish the job. If you have followed our team over the last couple of years, you know that we’ver ended our tournament runs earlier than we had hoped. This year’s goal was to just make it out of the sectional tournament. Now we just go from there.
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