Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Senior infielder Alicia Irwin has a passion for softball, and gives the game everything she has, Coach Megan Smith said.
Irwin’s passion may be the most evident in high school when she had a hectic schedule with her competitive travel team.
Infielder Alicia Irwin
Hometown: Salina
Nickname: A.I.
Major: Psychology
Favorite childhood toy: Sit-N-Spin
Most memorable thing I have read: Anything by Dr. Seuss
Favorite childhood memory: Fishing with her grandparents
Favorite quote: “I’m not afraid, I was born to do this,” Joan of Arc
She would go to school at 7:30 a.m., have volleyball or basketball practice after class, then make an 80-minute drive from Salina to Wichita for softball practice. Many nights she would not get home until 11 p.m.
“If I had a lot of homework, my mom or dad would drive to practice while I did it in the car,” Irwin said.
Although Irwin missed out on a lot of the typical high school experiences, she said it was worth it to have a once in a lifetime experience to play softball all over the country.
“I missed homecomings and all the fun dances because I was off playing softball,” Irwin. “But people would be like ‘oh, I went to this party over the weekend,’ and I was like, ‘oh, I was off in Vegas.’”
Keeping with her adventurous side, Irwin originally committed to Coastal Carolina because she wanted to experience new things.
“I wanted to be that be that girl that went as far away as possible,” Irwin said. “So that is why Myrtle Beach was so appealing.”
After a coaching change her sophomore year at Coastal Carolina, she decided to transfer to a school closer to home. Kansas State doesn’t field a softball team, so Irwin decided to come to Kansas, much to the dismay of her Wildcat father.
“I’m slowly transforming him into a KU fan,” Irwin said. “For Christmas I got my dad only KU things, like ties and polos. But my dad makes sure all his KU stuff says ‘KU softball’ because he just wants to be a KU softball fan.”
Unsure whether she would be able to play softball if she transferred, Irwin went through Kansas walk-on tryouts and got a spot on the team. She eventually moved up and received a scholarship this season.
She began the season as a starter, but broke her hand in practice early into the season, which limited her play for five weeks.
Smith said. “She decided to stay positive and help the team in any way she can.”
Having recovered from her injury, Irwin will be playing the final games of her career this month. She said that after the season’s over, the biggest difference for her will be having a lot more free time.
“It’s going to be different time management-wise not having weights every day and curfews,” Irwin said. “I think I’m really going to be confused what to do every day from 2 to 6.”
She said one thing she’s going to do is hit up music festivals, such as Bonnaroo, all throughout the summer, and senior teammate, Ally Stanton said Irwin is attending concerts whenever she has a chance.
“If you add up all the concerts that the rest of the team has been to, she would still beat them single-handedly,” Stanton said. “She’ll end up at Country Stampede one weekend, then some rap concert the next.”
— Edited by Kristen Liszewski
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