I started playing baseball at 7 and was immediately ahead of everyone in throwing and hitting skills. I started playing tennis at 5 and the crossover to baseball was a natural fit. I vividly remember pitching the first game of kid pitch and struck everyone out, it was so fun I was laughing at the batters as they whiffed and went back to the dugout. I played tennis and baseball concurrently throughout my youth. On several occasions I’d win a tennis tournament on Sunday morning and travel back for a baseball game that night. I earned HS varsity letters in tennis from 5th grade through 8th grade but once I got to HS, strikeouts and home runs took priority over aces on the court. 

In high school I was All Region twice, leading the region in RBIs twice and led also in strike outs and batting average in my senior season. After a big physical development spurt prior to my senior season, I was recruited by SEC and Big 10 schools, eventually settling on the University of Minnesota. In 1998 we were ranked in the top 10 all year, won the Big 10, and made it to the regional finals falling to Alabama just short of the College World Series. Ironically the last game was in the 1999 regionals at Baylor where Baylor great Jason Jennings shut us down ending our season. My college career was injury plagued and disappointing in terms of performance but the experience and knowledge gained was irreplaceable as I now pass that knowledge and lessons learned on to my daughter and her softball friends that train with us.