Brooke’s blog: here comes summer! (5/15)

Brooke’s blog: here comes summer! (5/15)

May 15, 2014 by Brentt Eads
Brooke’s blog: here comes summer! (5/15)
Brooke Vestal
Brooke Vestal

We’re excited to introduce a new blogger to our stable of great players and writers… Brooke Vestal, a 2018 pitcher with the Texas Bombers 16U team who has committed to Oklahoma.

That’s right, Brooke’s only an eighth grader and is our youngest blogger to date, but when you watch her on the field and talk to her off of it, you’d swear the 6-foot pitcher is a seasoned high schooler! Brooke’s going to write occasionally for us and chronicle what it’s like to go through the club season… So here we go, everyone… meet Brooke!

Click here to see blogs from our other standout players! Check out our video interview with a young Brooke at PGF Nationals last summer! Read about Brooke and her decision to commit to Oklahoma

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The sun is back after a cold winter for Texas. That means my family will be in full softball mode with my sister Hunter (2020 grad class) and me both playing full-time softball for the Texas Bombers.

Brooke is looking forward to a busy summer traveling around the country including a trip back to PGF Nationals.
Brooke is looking forward to a busy summer traveling around the country including a trip back to PGF Nationals.

My youngest sister Harley (2024) will be relaxing with our grandmother in Michigan while we travel. I started playing as a T-baller in Beeville, Texas  and I moved to competitive ball in Corpus Christi when I was nine.

The transition was not easy, but the payoff has been great. We are a softball family and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I just wrapped up an off-season full of deer hunting and volleyball. I had good luck at both and I am fired up to get back to the red dirt!

I am happy to be making my first report of the new season as our march to PGF Nationals is officially under way. I have been anxious to get back on the dirt after a break for volleyball.

In the meantime, I had the honor of playing on the first team to represent Church Hill Middle School here in New Braunfels, Texas.

I am excited to play with the Texas Bombers this year after an awesome 5th place finish at PGF last year with the Austin Stars. I am lucky to be on another talented team with strong coaching. The more

I play this great game, the more I appreciate the coaching I’ve had over the years.

Yep, that's Brooke when she was just starting out... and now the eighth grader is committed to Oklahoma!
Yep, that’s Brooke when she was just starting out… and now the eighth grader is committed to Oklahoma!

Because there are so many talented girls playing, I realize now that strong coaching and hard work divide the field. Each of us have coaches who put in as many or more hours of hard work and dedication as we do, but get little credit ( and all the blame when we lose).

The last year has been a blur for me that ended with a verbal commitment to Oklahoma! I visited several great softball schools and met many amazing coaches and players. Each of us has our tastes, and for me OU was a clear choice. I look forward to being a part of the Sooner tradition.

More importantly, our Texas Bomber team is working hard to prepare for PGF Nationals. I am lucky to join a team that comes off a win at ASA Nationals last year and we are hungry for more! The road out West is under way.

Over the next few months, I will get the chance to play in Texas, Louisiana, Colorado and Huntington Beach, Calif.. I am eager to see and compete with some of the best teams in the country. I know I have to play with and against the top talent in order to consider myself in that crowd.

As a pitcher, I am working on location as well as some new pitches. I learned last year that the hitting will be top notch and that I need to step up my game in order to be competitive. In the meantime, I will no doubt shed sweat, blood and maybe some tears just like the rest of us who strive to succeed at the highest level of our sport.

Good luck ladies, the summer season is here

! Lookout for the Texas Bombers Futures HTX in the 14U bracket… and may the best team win!

I Look forward to checking in along the way.

— Brooke Vestal.