Senior Lydia Lytle remains optimistic for the season ahead of her despite the softball team’s struggles in the past three years.
“I want to hit a home run,” Lytle said. “I hope to make all conference. Those are my biggest goals.”
Despite the lack of success on the Irish, Lytle has fostered an impressive 11-year career that began in kindergarten.
“I played lots of sports, but I always felt a connection to softball,” Lytle said. “It’s one of the only sports where there’s no particular body type that’s necessary to play it. Anyone can play it.”
This inclusive atmosphere has helped Lytle to find her passion, and also changed the course of her life. Lytle’s other passion is STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and math).
“I’ve done STEM as long as I’ve played softball,” Lytle said. “I’m a very analytical person. You can break down the physics of softball, and I like to think of it like that rather than trying to do stuff randomly. If you think about it from a scientific perspective, it can help a lot as a player.”
Lytle hopes to continue her career as a player, taking her talents to a Division I school where she can pursue an engineering degree.
Success is certainly a reward to Lytle, but she says that it is failing in softball that has taught her the most.
“It’s a game of failure,” she said. “If you only hit the ball 40 percent of the time, you are still considered a great hitter. Because of this, success means so much more. I believe this is why I’m such an easy going person. When I screw up, I accept it and move on. Softball has taught me that.”
Lytle plans to use her remaining time at McGuinness to focus on her legacy. She plans to work with feeder schools to promote softball to young girls so that they can experience the inclusive atmosphere that has changed Lytle’s own life.
“I would love to coach girls, too,” Lytle said. “I would want to help them learn what I’ve managed to gain from this sport.”