By Hayden Swope

Sometimes the ups and downs make or break a season, but for Northwest’s Kia Stokes, she wasn’t giving up. After a short break Stokes was able to jump right back into the sport with her teammates.

“I had to take some time off to heal my body and my mindset,” Stokes said. “For a moment I wasn’t sure if softball was my thing. After some time I started getting back into it. I really wanted to fix my swing and that was one of the things that I needed to work on most.”

While having statistical goals and accolades she hopes to accomplish, Stokes’ biggest hope is to be the best leader she can be for her team.

“Some goals I have for this year I want to leave a good impression on my underclassmen,” Stokes said. “I definitely want to have a higher batting average than last year as well.”

Going back and forth on whether softball was for her or not, Stokes couldn’t forget about all the funny or memorable moments she had with her team.

“My favorite memory from last year was during tryouts when one of the girls on the team hit a straight shot at the coach’s eye,” Stokes said. “Coach made the most of it and for the rest of the season he would wear this little girl’s face mask to protect his face. It was so funny at the moment but looking back on it I feel so bad because he had a purple eye for so long.”

Stokes plans to continue her education after high school and head into the medical field.

“My future plans are to go to college to become a physical therapist,” Stokes said.