Semoball

Estes shines at USSSA All-American Fastpitch Softball Series

Lauren Estes poses for a picture with her awards from the USSSA All-American Fastpitch Softball Series, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, at the Sikeston Recreation Complex.
Alex Wallner/Standard Democrat

SIKESTON — She has the opportunity to do whatever her mind takes her.

That was the point made by Lauren Estes’ pitching coach Ryan Medlin after Estes finished the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) All-American Fastpitch Softball Series with MVP honors.

Pitching four games total, Estes started the tournament by throwing a no-hitter. Overall, she gave up three hits, three walks, striking out 39 batters and not allowing one earned run over those four games.

“She’s probably one of the hardest workers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with; when I first met Lauren, it was obvious that she was going to be a special type of player,” Medlin said. “She had the skill, talent, and the strength and mental fortitude to succeed and possibly play at a higher college, divisional level. She does all the work.

“I’ll show her some pointers here and there, but it’s her work ethic. She constantly wants to improve. I know she throws every chance she gets. She asks her dad to throw; she asks me to throw, so that’s what it takes to be an elite-level athlete like she is.”

All of her time in the offseason centered around this stage — a national one.

Estes played in this tournament last season, with her dad, Doug, saying that she held her own. This time around, however, was different.

“This year she went, and she was one of the oldest in her age bracket,” Doug said. “She was one of the tallest, and she probably trained harder.

“She pitched a no-hitter in pool play, and when brackets started, she pitched the last two championship games to finish it. She was confident, relaxed, and dominated. I think she gave up three hits all week and had 30-plus strikeouts at a national level, and she learned to go deep into games; we played longer games down there, six-to-nine innings, and she had a good time.”

During practice and leading up to the tournament, Medlin added that he doesn’t tell the players he coaches much.

He will give pointers here and there but allows each individual to be themselves and focus on what they can do, one pitch at a time.

“We work on form, we work on push, we work on drive, and we’re starting to focus more on spins,” Medlin said. “Just some basic form tweaks we have to make here and there. However, the biggest part of the game we try to work on is the mental aspect side of it and keeping her mentally tough for when she gets challenged with adversity within the game.”

All of the hard work seemed to work wonders, as Lauren ended the tournament with top individual honors, but her team also came away with the tournament championship.

“I was elated,” Doug said. “We knew she was above average; we knew she was very competitive, but that was the first time that she played at that level on a national level. We were ecstatic.”

The 11-year-old plans to attend Sikeston, and to everyone around her, the future is bright.

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