High school athletes like Raelynn Sandlin work hard so that when the time comes to step out on the field, they are prepared and ready. Sandlin knows that while practice is important, there are also sacrifices that have to be made.
“Hard work is definitely a key to being the best athlete that you can be,” she said. “Being successful is important to me and that is what motivates me to keep working hard. I want to continue to be successful later in life as well.”
Raelynn is a senior at Norman High School where she plays catcher and utility for the fastpitch softball team. Her coach, Daniel Wood, says that Sandlin is a vital part of his team and their success.
“Raelynn will be the anchor of our offense,” Wood said. “She led our team in almost every offensive category last season. She will also be a key part of our success as she will be there to mentor a young pitching staff from behind the plate and will be a field general for our defense.”
The work that she puts in is important, but Sandlin also knows that there would be no success without her teammates.
“We have a great team that gets along really well with each other,” said Raelynn. “Preslee Ray is someone that I battle most with in practice, mainly because we both play the same positions and we are both very competitive people. When we go up against each other in practice, it makes both of us better. Someone that I have great chemistry with is the other senior, Avery Bozeman. She has been my ride or die ever since seventh grade during softball season. Also, Ashtan Gainey is probably one of our underrated players. She can pretty much play wherever the team needs her to be which sometimes doesn’t get the recognition she deserves.”
When Sandlin and her teammates step on on the field to play, they go up against a number of different teams. But for Raelynn, there is one opponent that she enjoys beating the most.
“Norman North would have to be the team I like to get the win against the most,” she said. “They are our rivals and there is always a big crowd at those games.”
