Faces off the Field: Bailey Merritt, freshman third baseman, Bastrop
What has been your favorite memory with the Bastrop softball team?
Beating Elgin this past April. I know a lot of their players from select ball and Little League and it was the first time Bastrop ever beat them.
Tell me something you remember about the first time you played organized softball.
I was 9 years old and had been playing catcher and first base in select baseball since I was 6. Some of the boys and their parents were not very nice to me because they didn’t think a girl should be a starter in a boys game. They said girls should play softball. The team fell apart because the coach had to quit and I couldn’t find another team that really wanted a girl. My teacher at Rosanky Texas Christian Academy asked if I wanted to try out for her daughter’s softball team. The first day I set foot on the field, I couldn’t believe how nice and welcoming all the players, coaches and parents were.
What's your favorite thing to do in a game?
I enjoy hitting homers but I really like to throw out runners. I enjoy the defensive strategy of the game.
More: Bastrop stuns Anderson in first game of softball playoff series
Has softball taught you any lessons you apply to daily life?
It’s really helped me improve my communication skills because you can’t have a successful team if you don’t talk to each other.
What do you plan to do after you graduate?
I want to continue playing softball in college and my dream is to play on the Olympic softball team. I haven’t decided on a career yet, but I’d love to be a white-water rafting guide in Colorado.
If you could have dinner with four people in the history of the world, who would they be?
I'm going to pick my great-grandpa (the late William dePutron), Kobe Bryant, my grandmother (Renee Ellenson) and Yogi Berra.
Yogi Berra?
He was a catcher and that’s my favorite position to play and he probably would have lots of cool, funny stories.
Tell me something about you most people don't know.
I’m actually kind of shy.
When you're not playing sports, what do you do for fun in Bastrop?
Hang out with friends, have fun in the pool with my family, take photos, work out and listen to music.
What has been your favorite vacation?
Three summers ago we went to Colorado and went white-water rafting. Loved it.
What do you consider the world's greatest invention?
The smart phone. Do you really have to ask a teenager why? I love to take photos and stay in touch with my friends.
Rick Cantu
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bastrop third baseman Bailey Merritt like the defense in softball
