Sydney Adkins signs with Cumberland University
Ever since she was a young girl, Sydney Adkins knew two things: she wanted to play college softball and she wanted to attend her father’s alma mater.
Friday afternoon, she signed her name on a document to make both dreams a reality.
The LaFayette High School senior will head north to Lebanon, Tenn. later this fall to go to school and prepare to play softball for the Cumberland (University) Phoenix.
“This is a dream come true,” she said just after signing her national letter of intent with the NAIA school. “I started playing (softball) when I was nine years old and it’s always been about playing college ball. It’s been my ultimate goal and now it’s here, so I just have to keep focusing on that goal and keep pursuing it.”
Adkins and her family started the college recruiting process early, but she said she knew right away where her heart was.
“When we started looking at colleges about my eighth grade year, (Cumberland) was at the top of the list,” she explained. “When they started recruiting me, it really meant something because it was my favorite college, so that made it all the more special.”
“As a freshman, Sydney was just ‘yes sir’ to anything I asked her to do and she’s been that way all four years here,” said LaFayette head coach Glen Woodard, who coached college softball at Lincoln Memorial University before coming to Walker County. “She’s very knowledgeable about the game. She knows what’s going on and when she got her opportunities, she shined. She had a big hit for us in the playoffs and she just did her best every time she got the chance.”
This past fall, Adkins and a senior-heavy Lady Rambler team advanced to the state playoffs for the first time in nearly 10 years.
“I’ll be playing on the freshman team to start and right now, they are looking for outfielders,” Adkins said. “I’ll probably start at in the outfield or at first base. I know I can go up against 20-year-old pitchers that throw 70 miles per hour, so for me it’s just working on the speed of the (college) game and everything else is fundamentals.”
“She just has to work a little on defense, but she can hit the ball,” assessed her former high school coach. “Her offense is where she will shine (at the next level). Cumberland’s coaches are getting a good ball player, but they are also getting a great person, too.”
Adkins says she plans to enter the nursing program at Cumberland.
“They have one of the top nursing programs in state of Tennessee and I want to be an RN,” she added, “so, academically, it’s perfect for me.”