Being THAT GIRL

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Dropping Diamonds with AJ Andrews is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Athletes Unlimited Softball League and Deep
Blue Sports and Entertainment.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
You can only can control what you can control, So
just stay in your lane and vision and just focus
on that because everything else is just something else to
distract you.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Welcome to Dropping Diamonds with AJ Andrews, where we dive
headfirst into the world of softball. On today's episode. Is
the absolutely magnificent former uf All American former NFCA Player
of the Year. She's a gold medalist of the Women's
Softball World Cup. Pro Softball Player of the AUSL bandits

(00:51):
Skyler Wallace. Hey, queen, Hi.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm so excited to chat with you, so like we're
sitting in our gym just chitchat up.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
I know, it's like as if we were in Summers
but worlds apart. Was we have to give him a
shout out?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
We do. We do, even though he kicked my butt today.
I mean, we'll give him a shot to workout.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yes, it was not easy, Okay, I'll still give him
some love.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Good.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, Summer's method. Hashtag what's his ashtag?

Speaker 2 (01:21):
Hashtag the game rewards the grind, Baby, the.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Game rewards the grind. There it is well as we
get started. You and I both know when it comes
to leading off at the plate, it's all about the energy.
It's all about getting the game started. So to lead
off all my podcasts, I love to start with affirmations
and just drop some diamonds before you get into dropping
your own diamonds. And so one of my favorite quotes

(01:45):
that I want to bring into this when a lead
out really strong is success is not final and failure
is not fatal.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
I love that, and so the.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Affirmation thanks girl. Now I want to pull from that
quote that I feel everybody can walk through today with
whole fully. Today, I won't be too high or too low.
I will ride success as far and as fast as
it flows. And so whether it flows fast or whether
it flows sell, keep riding the wave. Success is not
final and failure is not fatal. For you, Skyther. When

(02:16):
you think of quotes or affirmations that really drive you
throughout your career or your day to day, do you
have one really sticks out to you.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
I think the biggest one I always kind of remind
myself and I go back to is comparison is your
biggest thief of joy, and I think that just keeps
me in a place to stay in my own lane,
will focus about what I need to do handle my business,
and nothing outside of that is in my control. All
I can do is control my preparation, what I do
on the field, my energy, my mindset, my attitude, and

(02:45):
that's all I can do. So if I have, you know,
really good thoughts in a really good mind, then I'm
going to be successful and everything else is going to
fall into place as it should.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
I love that. That's been one of my favorites. Two
Comparison is the thief of joy, and I always talk
about like when you compare yourself to other people, you
put a cap on your own success if you really
think about it, Because if I'm trying to make myself
come this one person or do all things that they're doing,
I'm putting a limit on how far I can actually go.
Maybe I'm supposed to be better, maybe I'm supposed to

(03:13):
go further, But if I'm only trying to compare and
be what they're doing, that I don't have the lessons
I'm supposed to learn and and excel the ways in
which I'm supposed to excel.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Right, And I think the big thing to go off
that is everyone works at different paces. So just because
someone else looks really successful, that doesn't mean you're falling behind.
You just might do something at a different time and
you're going to end up in the same place. It
just might take you a little bit longer or not
as long as someone else. So just don't ever compare
yourself because you really never know where someone's at, And

(03:41):
just control what you can control because you're destined for
something and you're in control of that. So just ride
that out.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, ride the wave.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yes, ride the wave.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
As far and as fast as it's supposed to go.
Your wave is going to look a lot different than
anybody else's way. What's an affirmation we can pull from
that quote for today? What do you think we could say?
Comparison is a thief of joy.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Trying to like combine the two, Like what's something?

Speaker 1 (04:08):
Don't compare, don't contrast, Go out and be the biggest badass. Yeah,
be that girl, be that girl.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
That's our affirmation. Be that girl, be that girl, be
your own girl.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Whatever that girl looks like for you that yes, yes,
no compare, No contrast, be that girl your own badass.
We did it. Don't compare. Don't contrast, be that girl
your own badass.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
Look at us.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Actually that was actually went so hard. Actually like it.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
I like it a lot. Actually, hold on, I think
we'll have a new job.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
First of all, we just dropped some maated diamonds already.
But when you think about shining bright like a diamond.
I know you recently posted you went to you have
softball game and for the first time you were in
the stands instead of on the field celebrating and cheering
on your girls. When you think about someone we give
some shine bright like a diamond, maybe somebody that you

(05:21):
want to give a little more sparkle to the diamond
that you think should have a little more recognition, should
be talking about a little more. What's what's one person
that maybe comes to mind?

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Ooh, I think there's two people, And I'm going to
kind of lean into Florida Softball here for a minute.
I think Corby Otis and Ava Brown don't get the
recognition that they really deserve. I think working with them
personally and then just seeing how they compete now off
the field and I get to see them, you know

(05:49):
and their their moments on the field grinding, but I
also have experience of like knowing their knowledge and how
their brain works. I think wine Let's start with Corby.
She is the most prepared, smartest, kindest, hard working person
I've ever met. Honestly, she wants to be a surgeon.
She wants to be a heart surgeon, to be exact,

(06:11):
So she's very smart and dedicated to her craft when
it comes to that. But when it comes to softball,
she just brings this competitive level that I have not
seen from anyone. Really, she competes and she communicates, which
is key. She's not just competing to you know, make
her own brand or be the best for herself or whatever.
She's competing because she wants to bring everyone together and

(06:34):
be one team so that they can all compete for
that goal and just get after it. And just like
the knowledge she brings to the game. I mean, she's
obviously very smart. She wants to be a heart surgeon, right,
So it's just you can imagine the knowledge that she's
bringing to you. It's just like, oh, the ball's moving
at a thirty six degree angle to the right, and
the pictures wind up if you look at this and
I'm like, Okay, sometimes I'm like Corby, shut it down.

(06:55):
Let's just see the ball in the zone. Okay, let's
just keep a simple seatball hip ball, because go loopy.
She does really big things, but she's one that flies
under the radar sometimes because you have these other girls
who are just getting a lot of exposure and doing
these grand things too, and she's just, you know, very
consistent and just doesn't get a lot of recognition for

(07:16):
what she does. And then I think my favorite thing
about Ava Brown, and something a lot of people don't
get to see or really understand, is her mentality. I mean,
she walked in as a freshman last year and she's
a hitter and a pitcher, so she's doing the best
of both worlds. But she never lets her failure, you know,
on the mound, dictate what she's doing in the box

(07:37):
and vice versa. And I think that's something that is
very challenging, especially for a young female to understand and
do in that moment. And I just think she leans
into her people really well. She's super gritty, but yet
she just lets things go immediately and it just allows
her to compete freely and loosely and it's something really

(07:57):
really neat to see, and I wish a lot of
girl at a younger age could understand that, because it's
very important to sometimes just let the results be the
results and just do what you have to do, and
you know you're gonna fail a lot of the times,
but that failure means there's growth to colm and success
is going to follow. So I think Ava does a
really good job of managing both pitching and hitting, but

(08:20):
also her mentality with how she competes and gets after it,
which I think deserves a lot of recognition.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Talking about Corby and how she's so analytical to it,
which I feel like sometimes it can that sounds good,
But I was always one of those players where some
of their best pitches, so I know that I'm probably
at least going to get that pitch. That's all I
want to know. I can't. I didn't want to know
too much, don't want to see too much. Oh just
made me think for you, as a player, do you
want to know as much information as possible or almost

(08:48):
as little as possible? Kind of just go see ball, hitball.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Probably leaning closer to as little as possible. I do
like some knowledge, but I think I lean more into
like my preparation and what I'm doing for that game,
rather than knowing what angle she's gonna throw at at
what speed and all the different things and her cross
step over on her release, Like I don't need to
know that, Okay, I just want to see a strike
and I'm trying to hit a strike. Like, let's just

(09:11):
be honest, So I would say, I don't really need
all of that. I think there's good tidbits from some things,
like maybe she does something a little bit different when
she throws a change up, and if I can pick
up on that end game, then I can pick up
on that. But let's just see a strike in the
zone and swing, get our swing off. Keep it simple.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Because coach Dobson, who's gonna be a coach at AUSL now,
he was so good at picking the pitches and picking
all the things and calling things out. I mean, I'm
be honest, just thank you. I appreciate all the hard work.
But I gotta I just gotta let it roll. I can't.
I'll start thinking and then I'll start guessing.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
The worst is when you guess and you're like, Okay,
well it's probably gonna throw this curveball low on the
zone and then they just freaking meatball it, yeah, down
the middle, and you're like, and you're watching it because
you're expecting something completely different, and then you just feel sick.
I'm like, I can't I can't have that.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, So I'm with you.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
I'm with you. Was it weird being on the other side.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
Very weird. I think part of me like was prepared
for that because I was older and I knew like
that time was gonna come, and you know, I was
twenty four when I left college, so like it was
time for me to go, and I was prepared for that.
But it was very weird.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
Because I like, it's just like, you know, the there's these.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
Moments I'm like, oh, if I was on there, I
could have maybe done something different, or maybe it would
be different if I was playing, but like that's just
like not the case, and they're doing a great job
without me, which is fine, and I love that. I'm
supporting the Gators all the way. They will always be
a very special place in my heart. But it was
very weird. And I don't even think I got to
watch the game as much as I thought I was

(10:45):
gonna be able to because I was getting tapped on
the shoulder every two seconds. But it was more of
like a chit chat with all my friends and a hangout,
which was really cool and something to I will honestly embrace.
I loved it.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
It was awesome local celebrity.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
I felt like cool girl. I was like, oh my god,
wait me, stop y'all.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
I fine, fine, I know. And I remember watching LSU
the year after I was playing it just like I
got like anxiety like that very first game, sitting there.
I'm like, whell, I'm not on the field. It I
almost felt like I was supposed to be there. I'm
missing something. It was such a weird experience, you know.
It was a really cool moment. I was just like

(11:26):
sitting in and somebody just said passing by, didn't even
see me. It's like, man, I miss watching AJ make catches.
And I was like, oh, I miss it too. It
was like such a cool moment as we were like
passing by, did anybody say anything fun or funny to
you when you were there?

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah? I got a lot of like we miss you
so much, like we missed your passion. And I'm like, okay,
so I did impact you in ways like more than
just like the game of softball, Like there was a
connection there and that was something very very special to me,
because I think there is more to the game of
softball that people don't get to experience all the time,
and so I get in a little moment of like, Okay,

(12:02):
I did do something good like that was that was
nice to hear.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
You made your imprint on Florida softball. Yes, beyond just
the numbers you were able to put up. Yeah, well,
even though you've made an impact beyond the numbers, the
numbers speak for themselves. In twenty twenty three, you were
NFCA Player of the Year. The reason why that happened
was because you were the only player in the nation,
the only one with sixty five or more runs seventy

(12:28):
two to be exact, fifty five or more RBIs, forty
five or more walks, fifty one and thirty or more
stolen bases. So when we talked about earlier about the
affirmation of being that girl, Skyler Wallace was that girl. Okay,
So the definition of that girl when we talk about

(12:48):
the success, I mean playing at that caliber in the SEC,
which is arguably the hardest conference to play in, and
to be consistently successful in what was your drive that year?
Was there a motto? Was there something that you really
told yourself and that you really just stuck to. H
a plan you made that you really stuck to that
allowed you to see so much success.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
I don't think they're like I didn't go into that
year being like I'm gonna win SEC Player of the Year.
I mean, obviously there's goal set, you know, like I
want to do big things. I want to be Player
of the Year. Like, yeah, that's a thought, like I
want that, Like I want that for myself. But that
wasn't like a plan that like if this doesn't happen,
then like everything fails. I think the biggest thing when

(13:31):
I look back on that year was I embraced the
grind as much as I could, all that gritty work
of sweating my ass off in the cage, putting in
extra reps, staying thirty minutes and taking extra ground balls,
showing up early for treatment so I was prepared for
practice and able to be limber and move, you know,

(13:53):
going on coffee dates with my friends so that we
had a connection and I could lean on them and
they could lean on me in tough Mond. I think
that is what really changed my game in twenty twenty
three and allowed me to be so successful, is because
I used every single resource possible to be the best
to get the best out of myself. It wasn't like

(14:14):
the best because I was competing against another person. I
was competing against myself. I was out there working extra
ground balls because I missed one ground ball in practice
that I should have not missed. So now I'm going
to stay and I'm going to prove to myself that
I can get that ground ball and I know it.
So I really leaned into, you know, what I could do.
And then I also brought my teammates along with me

(14:36):
because I knew I could not do it without them
and I needed them to have my back just like
I had theirs in order to be successful. So I
think that was the biggest difference. Like, yeah, you know,
I set these goals of I want to achieve this.
I want to hit five hundred, I want to have
thirty plus stolen basis, I want to do X, Y
and Z. That's just something I put on paper, you know.
But at the bottom of the paper and I remember

(14:58):
writing this down, is I want to work my ass off.
That was the last goal on there is I want
to work my ass off, And I think that speaks
volumes to a lot of things. Is because people can
set goals and have ambitions, but if you're not willing
to put the work in, then why waste your time
Because without that work, you're just going to keep running
laps and circles and doing the same thing over and

(15:21):
over and over again, and you're just going to be
chasing those goals forever. So I think that's the biggest
difference I think of when I look back on that
twenty twenty three season.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
I love that the fact that you said that I'm
going to stay after to prove myself that I can't
get that ball that I missed in practice, and I'm
going to work until I get it. That was my
mentality throughout my entire softball career, from top A ball
to college to pro was there's just no one's gonna
outwork me. I know I can catch this ball. I'm
gonna figure out how I'm going to catch it. Whether

(15:49):
it's the angle, whether it's running faster, I don't know
what it is. I'm going to get to that ball. Yeah,
And when you talk about bringing your teammates with you.
I feel like that's such a profound moment and a
pound statement because in the game of softball, it takes
all nine really takes every single person on the team,
whether you're on the fielder in the dugout. And so
when you talk about bringing your teammates with you, what
did that look like? How did you bring them along

(16:10):
with you?

Speaker 2 (16:11):
On my ride, there was conversations had and being an
older player at that time and a leader of that team,
I had to, you know, have some conversations on the field,
you know, like maybe let's say Reagan Walsh is at
a position and she's mistaked. I'm like, hey, like you
got this, Like maybe let's just try this, Let's go
at a different proach. Or maybe I see someone struggling

(16:32):
in the cage, I'm like, hey, what are you thinking here?
And I'm like, okay, I understand. Let me give you
some input and see if this helps. Let's be a
team like this, Let's collaborate on this because me and
you are together, Like I won't have success unless you
have success, and vice versa, Like, no one's going to
pay attention to a team if one person's doing well.
You need everybody as a collective doing well in order

(16:53):
to get recognition. And so it was those conversations and
spending time at the dining hall and grinding in the
weight room with your each other and those early six
am I didn't want to get up at six am
and run fifty threes. Why am I running fifty threes?
I don't know, but I knew it brought chemistry and
it brought something to the team that was gonna be
necessary when we had to get up and compete against

(17:13):
Oklahoma and we were exhausted at the very end. Like,
those are the moments that shine because you went to
that six am run, you got up, you work your
butt off, you pushed through that tough time, and you
grew as a team and for that moment, now you're prepared.
And then it's like the little thing stancing in the
locker room bringing people along. Let's have a good time.

(17:35):
Maybe we're going out one night, going to a team dinner,
like whatever it is. Those are like the moments that
really connect you so that you can have that connection
on the field and really communicate and collaborate, which is
important and be successful. And tough moments and really easy moments.
I think if without collaboration, then you're just an individual
and you're not really going to grow.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
The dancing in the locker rooms, those moments are the
peak of what I remember from oh yeah, softball. What
was the what was the go to song? Did you
guys have one?

Speaker 2 (18:04):
Sexy Red was the song at the time. I'm not
gonna sing it. I'm not gonna sing it. I know
y'all know what I'm doing. Get it sexy, get it exy,
a good sexually.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
And you could come up with so many different movement
my guys like it was and anybody anyways, for anyone,
it was that a cheer too. Did y'all have that
as a cheer? Uh huh.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
We turned it into a cheer to yurse. We kept
the dance moves in the locker room cause those weren't
always like the most appropriate.

Speaker 1 (18:34):
But but it's sexy ride like yeah right, you know, yeah,
you know, we gonna move our hips.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
We're gonna say that, we're gonna Oh.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
It was so funny. I think it was a vine
at the time. But do you remember it was like
go big lexy, yes, legs. Yes, we didn't have a
Lexi on our team. At the time that do you
remember we played Oklahoma and they had a lexi and
that was the first time I heard that turned into
it go big legsy uh huh, go big legs.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
See.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
You know, you ever think about how creative we are,
like SAPA players, We are the most creative people. The
cheers that we come up with, and I would really
dial it in.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Me and my friends always talk about travel ball days
and like you had that one person who was beating
on the bucket, just like making this, you know, this beat,
and then like someone's like beat boxing over here, and
it turns into a whole cheer and now for the
whole week, and you're just running that thing back and
back and back, and it's it's such a vibe. And
I remember Corona Angels and I'll shut them out even

(19:33):
though I was a Georgia Impact girl. I don't know
who came up with their cheers, but I need that
book because it's still something that I think about regularly.
I don't know what they did, but they had it
going on.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah. Connie Quinn at LC on my team, she made
the beats on the buckets. We had all the things.
I really feel like and I don't know why. This
is just now something I'm thinking of. We should create
like a softball album. We really have all the cheers,
all things, like the best ones we pinpoint and create
like an album of.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
It because we have some good ones. We have some
really and I know you've taken them from us. We
started it trendsetters.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Literally, what was your favorite trautball gear?

Speaker 2 (20:13):
I always liked the one that we did in college.
We always did like dear and then like we would
just like kind of change our our octave levels on
that and like repeat it, and like no one's like,
what what is deltar?

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Spell?

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Like d E L T t A R and like
it's basically just rattled backwards. So we would sing that
when like a coach had came out or they're doing
a pitching change or something was going on. We're like, oh,
you're you're rattled, But like we would say deltar and
everyone like didn't understand. But it was like a little
inside thing for the Gators. So that was like one

(20:50):
that I really enjoyed it because it was like, you know,
we're getting a little spicy here, like there was chaos
going on, the energy is getting up, We're getting after
it like it was always a good gritty moment.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
I love that. That reminded me of the r A
T t lly rattle battle picture rattle. Start you talking
about the ocatave love and they start low.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
And then get high high high.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
Yeah what a time.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
My favorite one I always used to do was so
this is if the strike just goes vibe right and
so uh, we're were on defense, so can we help?
You know, just looking and then I don't know why
that was always so funny to me.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
I'm like, oh, just looking at it, like yay, wrong me?

Speaker 1 (21:42):
Or did you see that? No, just missed it. If
they smood.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
Ones all was a little little little jab, a little
roast in there. I love it.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
Think about if like baseball players did cheers, how many
brawls would probably be We say so many baseball it'd
be a rap.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
That's because we're tough, though some baseball players are a
little too sensitive. Well that's emotional, not to dig or anything,
but no, not at all.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
There's more to cover, but first, let's take a quick break.
When you think about whether it's from the tears to
your success in college to winning gold processing your career
of softball, and as you're able to move through. When

(22:35):
you talk about your work ethic and all things that
that's led you to and your success, when did you
really define this is how I'm going to be, this
is how I'm going to prepare. I'm going to show
up and be the hardest worker on the field. Was
that something that you always had or was there something
that turned you into that kind of a person.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
I think that started from a very young age. I
was a little girl who was playing with these baseball players,
and you know, they would pick on me and be like, oh,
you're touch a girl. You can't do what we can do.
And I'm like, I'll literally smoke you in a race
right now. I'll literally jump higher than you. I'll hit
the ball farther than you. I don't know what you're

(23:12):
talking about, and I don't know who you're talking to
because it's not me. And so I was always super competitive.
And then I had a younger brother when I was four,
and of course he was not going to be better
than me, and I was going to show him I'm
the big sister. So growing up, I was always hanging
out with all I feel like all my mom's friends
had boys, so all my mom's friends that we hung
out with were all boys, so I'm the only girl

(23:34):
really in the mix. So I had to like stand
up for myself a lot of the time. And so
that kind of led into sports. And then I got
to sports, and I got into softball and really really
really got into it. And I realized that one, I'm
kind of in control of my potential, Like my parents
can make me go to lessons and they can kind
of make me do things, but like, why would I

(23:54):
waste time if I was, you know, didn't want to
go do it. I'd rather stay out home and go
play on the playground or go hang out at my
friend's house who's doing whatever. Like they are dedicating time
away from their job and making money to let me
achieve my goals. So I need to take advantage of that.
And so I decided, like when you know, I was
probably shoot, I don't know, ten twelve years old, that

(24:16):
if I was gonna do this, like I'm gonna do
it one hundred percent. And I've been like that since
I was a young age, Like if I'm gonna do anything,
it's not gonna be you know, thirty percent here, maybe
eighty percent here, like, no, we're gonna do it one
hundred percent because I hate having my time wasted and
I'm not gonna waste anyone else's time. So if I'm
gonna do something's gonna be at one hundred percent, one
hundred miles per hour, and we're gonna get the job
done the right way. And I think that just kind

(24:39):
of led into sports, and like I said about my
twenty to twenty three year, like I just really love
the little things that go into success. I love the
time and like if you have a school project, I
love like sitting there and doing all the work to
make that project really good. I love doing all the
extra reps, working out to make myself really good. I

(25:00):
love eating really really clean to make my body perform
really well. Like I love all the little background works
that people don't really get to see on the regular
to be successful. I think that is what really makes
someone their own person and their own athlete. And I
think that's the cool part about being an athlete, is
like you get to do a lot of things that
people don't get to see, and then it just shows

(25:23):
in the light and on the stage in that big
moment and people are like, oh my God, how did
you do it? And I'm like, if only you really knew,
if you really knew, you could possibly be doing the
same thing as I am. But we're just it's just different.
And I think from a young age, I was just
always competitive and I never liked someone telling me I
couldn't do something or I'm not going to do something,
or you're you're never gonna be this, and I'm like,

(25:45):
you were so wrong, Like you're so wrong until this day,
I'm like I love when someone like hates me or
like oh, like I'm fascinating. I'm like, ah, yeah, keep
telling me that, like keep bringing me that same energy,
because you're only making me better, Like you're only feeding
the fire right now. So from a young young age,
I've always been like that.

Speaker 1 (26:03):
I love you're fast. I grew up racing boys too,
and there was nothing I remember racing at astrosk. I
grewup from Florida, so astro skate was our go to
and we would have these races and I remember I
was I had to have been like twelve years old,
and my races boy he had yeah fifteen, like he
was an older guy, and I beat him in the

(26:24):
race and everybody was like, oh, I'm like, oh no, no,
Like I knew I was fast, but you couldn't tell
me nothing. After that, I was like, yeah, no, I am.
That back to what we said earlier. That girl like,
here I am. And it's so interesting you talk about
the little things because we are grilled into our brain
and softball that it is the little things that help
us be successful as a team or on the field,

(26:47):
whether it's hitting off the tee or being meticulous with
our work on the field. And you've taken that mentality
into your everyday life, like every little thing is important.
Is there one thing you can really pinpoint that People
would say it's a little thing, but it really isn't
that little, Like this little thing is actually in the
grand scheme of things, one of the biggest things that

(27:07):
help with success, at least help me reach success.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Right off the bat, I think recovery and mental health
come to my head, and I think the older I've gotten,
I've really realized that. And I wish I would have
known that when I was fourteen, fifteen, sixteen years old,
But I think recovery and your mental health is really
really important, and if you want to be successful, you
need to pay attention to those because you can work
out and do all the things, But if you're not

(27:31):
really taking care of your body, how are you expecting
it to have a better output. And if you're not
taking care of your mind, how are you expecting yourself
to get stronger or be more productive or learn a
new skill? Like those two things are very very important
in order to do the little things. I think sometimes
those get overlooked for you.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
And just because mental health is just so important. You
can't drive the ship if the gears are just not
working the way you know to work, and if they're
just kind of a pause. That's like our mind. Our
minds was driving all of our ships. And so when
you talk about mental health and what you wish you
would have known then that you know now was one
of the things that you feel like you've been able

(28:11):
to implement now that you didn't know at a younger age.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
To give myself some credit, you know, pat myself in
the back every once in a while, because we talk
about the little things, and sometimes those little things are
taxing and they're overwhelming, and they're stressful, and sometimes you
feel like you're gonna spiral and lose control. I mean,
I felt like that last week. I'm like with my
social media, I just feel like I'm spiral, I'm not
doing what I need to do, I'm not growing. And

(28:37):
I had to like pat myself on the back for
a minute and be like Skylar, like, do not realize
how much your else are doing while also trying to
balance social media and train for softball and do x
Y and Z like, It's okay to feel like that.
And so in those moments, I always like to, you know,
remind myself that I am a big girl and I

(28:59):
can do all of this. Maybe I just need to
focus on one thing a little bit more at the
time being and you know, shifts respective, or maybe I
just need to take a break for a second, just
maybe drop it for the day. You can go for
a walk and just be without my phone, or be
around people I really love and who understand me, and
I can be my my authentic self and just remove

(29:21):
myself and then I'll step back into it. Let me
just clear my mind and have like a little factory
reset in my head for a second. And whether that's
you know, a whole day or five minutes, whatever it
might be, I think having those little factory resets are
really good and something I wish when I was fifteen
and thinking I wasn't doing anything, or I wasn't doing enough,
or I'm failing because I have a be in school,

(29:43):
whatever it was, I wish I just knew, like just
it's okay, like everything's gonna work out, and just trust
it and just take a second to whatever it is,
take a bath, take a walk, whatever, lean into your people,
like just take that factory reset for a second and
then come back to it, because you just need a
moment sometimes, and I think a lot of people I'm

(30:04):
guilty of this. I'm just going going, going one hundred
miles a minute, and sometimes I'm like, okay, let me
just take a breath. Yeah, let me just have a
moment of quietness and just sit here. Or maybe I
just need to put my thoughts on paper, you know.
I think that was something I just I wish I knew,
and I've learned over the years. But if anyone's listening

(30:24):
to this who's younger, just know that it's okay to
feel like you're not doing enough, or you're spiraling, or
you know something isn't going your way and you're just
you're gonna fail no matter what, just take that second
to have a moment to yourself and pat yourself on
the back because you do a lot more, a lot more,
I promise you, a lot more than you think you do.

Speaker 1 (30:44):
Not only do you do a lot more than you
think you do, but you're probably doing a lot better
than you think you are. Absolutely absolutely, that was one
thing that I honestly still struggle with. There's so many
times I am just so sometimes crippling hard on myself
to loyalty too. It just very guilty, so bad sometimes

(31:04):
and like I get to a place where like, God,
I could have done this better, or man, I should
have done this more, on and on and on, and
then it's so crazy after those thoughts, and then you
get people coming back and saying these like, oh, no, Asia,
that was great, like that you did a good job.
I'm not I really loved it. I'm like, no, no,
I don't think so. I don't think so. And it's
they're just like, no, you did a good job. Please
stop really taking those moments to your point, give yourself credit.

(31:27):
I think it's good to be hard on yourself in
order to get better, right, but do not beat yourself
up or be such a critic to where you actually
cripple yourself and you leave yourself still and not able
to move forward.

Speaker 2 (31:42):
But a lot of times you're the one competing against
yourself in these moments and making the situation worse or
whatever it might be than you think.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
I think another thing. It's gonna also go back to
our affirmation. Remember you're that girl. Yes, right, all of
this is just going to continue to push you and
help you get better at whatever it is that You're
goals are hard work, and that mentality definitely helps. But
as as long as you also take a step back
and congratulate yourself. Treat yourself the way you would treat

(32:10):
a teammate. I remember that, like taps of itself that way.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Damn, I haven't heard that in a minute. That's good.
Treat yourself the way you'd want to be treated.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
Mm hmmm.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
That's just like a simple reminder. It is like, wow, like.

Speaker 1 (32:23):
Talk to yourself, be nice, Like would you thinks you're
telling yourself, would you tell them to your little I
young younger sisters, so like would you tell that to
your younger sisters if you don't have younger sisters, your teammates,
like the things you're speaking on to yourself. Would you
say that to one of your teammates, the way you're
feeling right now. If a teammate came to you was
expressing how you felt, how they felt and it was
similar to you, what would you tell them? Would you
say what you're telling yourself or would you say something different?

(32:43):
Because whether you tell them, that's what you need to
reframe and tell yourself.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
Yep amen amen, eh, hey men, ammen.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
I mean I think also when we talk about mental health,
especially in softball, a lot of the times it can
be your environment. And there's so much conversation often around
when players transfer and people have these conversations of the
transfer porter. I've always been a big supporter and proponent

(33:15):
of you need to be where you were going to
be happy to Florida. Yeah, yeah, and whatever that looks like,
that is between you and you, nobody else and you
being someone who did transfer and you had so much
success after you transferred from Alabama to then going to Florida.
What made you want to transfer? Why did you feel

(33:35):
like US was more so your home?

Speaker 2 (33:38):
So I wanted to transfer because I wasn't getting the
resources or the help or like the support I needed
in order to not only grow as an athlete, but
I think more importantly as a woman and really flourish
into who I knew and who I wanted to be.

(33:59):
And so when I returned back from COVID, I just
you know, I had had some thoughts over COVID during
that time period and being removed from that whole environment.
I think a lot of things kind of came to light.
But I was like, oh, like it's it's totally fine, Like,
you know, like I love my teammates and I had
a lot of friends outside of just the softball team.
I was like, I love being there, and my family

(34:20):
was close and they could come and support me. And
I was like, wow, this is like you know, I
was trying to telling myself like this is great. And
then I got back and I was like, oh, okay, Well,
like those feelings were like very real and very serious
and intense, and so I you know, had a conversation
with my parents about that and kind of you know

(34:41):
what I was feeling, and I had to express that
during COVID. But you know, we were in such a
time period that everyone was in the unknown. We didn't
really know what was going on, So I think there
was a lot more concern rather than just that at
the moment, And so we had the conversation and then
obviously led to me transferring when you.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
Did transfer and ended up in Florida. Was it about
Florida that made you feel like this is where I'm
going to get the resources that I need and become
the best player that I can be, which ultimately you
were right. What was it that initially stuck out to you?

Speaker 2 (35:17):
Well, I have to kind of share the story. My grandma,
my mom's mom. We called her Gigi. She passed away
when I was around ten or eleven years old from
ovarian cancer, and she was someone I spent a good
amount of time with at a young age because she
lived close by and just was always there and helping
my parents with us and all the things right. And

(35:40):
so there's like this little thing. It's a little rock,
like this big and it's clear and it has a
little angel in it, and I always saw it in
her car, and so I have it now and it's
been with me ever since her passing. And it was
in my nightstand one time when I was in tusclusion.
I had taken it out and this was like a
week prior to this moment. So it was sitting on
my night and I had gone home and you know,

(36:02):
kind of unwinded, and I was laying in bed and
was kind of like in and out of sleep. It
was weird, very weird experience, and I felt like I
was awake and I was seeing her sit in my
room and like have a conversation with me. And she
was like telling me, like, Skyler, what you're doing is right,
your feelings are there, You're very in tune. You're a

(36:24):
strong independent woman, and like, you know, this is like
my brain, I guess telling me, but in the form
of my grandma. I don't know, like I need to
talk to someone about this, because I would love to
see if like this is like some I don't even
know psychiatric or my conscience or I don't even know.
But she was like having this conversation with me, and
I was kind of in the middle of like deciding

(36:46):
what school I wanted to go to, because I knew
if I went to the University of Florida, I was
gonna have to sit out a year most likely, but
I could go to Oklahoma State and Washington, which were
my other two choices. At the time, and I could
play immediately, I could play that spring. And she told
me that University of Florida was the place I needed
to go in order to be the woman I wanted
to be or have the opportunities that I deserved, and

(37:08):
was you wanting? That was the end of the conversation.
And I woke up the next morning and I remember
I immediately walked outside. I had made a cup of coffee,
and I was sitting on my back porch and I
was just like kind of looking and I'm like, wow,
what happened last night? First off, like, was I drug?
Like what was going on? And I remember just sitting
there and it just seemed like everything was so still

(37:31):
and so clear, and I was like, wow, this is
just like a moment. And so I just sat there
and embraced that moment of peace for a second and
it just made sense. And I have not looked back
on that moment and obviously played out very very well
for me, and honestly, it was the best decision I
ever made to go to the UF, and I would
make that decision one hundred times over and over again.
And also was nice that I did have some prior

(37:54):
relationship with coach Walton as a U nineteen member on
that USA team that he was a part of when
we went to I don't even remember where we went to.
We went to a bunch of different places, but mainly
we won gold at U nineteen in California and he
was part of that and we so I had a
connection with him coaching wise obviously a little bit. And
so I just kind of I trusted that and I

(38:16):
leaned into it. And here I am ye, shout out Gigi,
I know, shout out Gig.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
I believe heavily in premonition dreams. I believe heavily in
trusting your gut. Yeah, And if you have a dream
like that, you have to absolutely with it, like I absolutely.
You just can't deny something like that. Man. I think
that that is it's so powerful, and s's a testament
because with so many people they're not sure if transferring

(38:46):
is the right thing to do, or don't want to
be perceived one way. Know that there was going to
be negative commentary around it, all these different things swirling,
and it can I imagine it could be very stressful
and very hard on one's mental health in order to
make that decision and when you ultimately made the decision
and you left and you began to really flourish at Florida.

(39:09):
I feel like sometimes people in there are certain situations
I feel like they lost themself. And this is just
from conversations of with some of my friends who have
transferred to Like I began to hate softball AJ and
like I knew I had to leave or it would
just be like the sport that I was in love
with my whole life was just gonna be a goner.
And then they finally left, and it's like no, like

(39:30):
I found it again, Like I found my love for
the game again. Yeah, was that kind of the experience
for you?

Speaker 2 (39:35):
The same exact experience, honestly? Like I remember going during
COVID when I was talking to my parents, I was
like I just don't want to play, Like I was
like I just don't care, and they're like, what do
you mean you don't care? Like this is everything you've
worked for, everything you've wanted, and I'm like, ah, I
just don't like whatever, Like I really just like, you know,
whatever it is, what it is. And I remember going
like after a few games and like I didn't even

(39:56):
realize I did this, but my parents had told me,
you know, a couple of years ago, and they're like, yeah,
we could like tell a shift in like your body
language and like your attitude, but we didn't really know
what was going on. Like I was a freshman in college.
I was new to the whole environment and all the
things they had to do. It was study hall, and
it's like we just thought you were, you know, understressed,
and like you would eventually come to us and talk

(40:17):
to us about it, because we knew that's how you were.
And I was like yeah, and I was like, it
just came down that I wasn't happy. I wasn't happy anymore,
and I just didn't care, and so I had to
make a change for myself.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
What would be your advice to other players they're kind
of going through the same thing and deciding whether to leave,
whether to stay, the emotions, the mentality behind it, because
for you, it was one of the best decisions you
could have made, and so what like advice or encouragement
would you give to others?

Speaker 2 (40:46):
I think the first thing, and I'm a huge advocate
for the transfer portal obviously, but I think the first
thing that someone needs to do when going into transfer
is are you doing everything possible at that school to
be successful, like and let's say this is like about
playing time or something with a teammate, Like are you
trying to make that situation better? Are you putting in

(41:07):
work to prove that you want that? And if you
can answer that yes, then I would continue. If you
say no, then I think you might need to look
a little bit more in the mirror and really see
what the problem is, because are you pointing fingers at
someone else and not yourself or vice versa. So if
you do answer yes, I think one I would start

(41:30):
kind of writing down what those thoughts are and what
you're dealing with, or maybe talk to someone about that,
because it can be very very mentally draining, especially trying
to deal with that alone. I really recommend to use
those thoughts in a very positive way and outsource someone
to help you, whether that's a friend or a parent,

(41:52):
or maybe a counselor or a notebook, whatever that is
for someone. I know everyone's a little bit different, but
write those thoughts down and kind of communicate those thoughts
and then kind of figure out like what you're wanting.
I think that's a big thing is sometimes we don't
really know what we're wanting from something, and so how

(42:12):
are you expecting to get that if you really don't
know what you want. I knew that I wanted somewhere
that was going to be a really really big degree,
a good degree. I thought a school was very important,
and I also wanted a coach that was going to
spend a lot of time excelling my game, because I
knew I was going to put in a lot of
extra work. So if he wasn't really wanting to do that,
then that probably wasn't a school that I should be at.

(42:35):
And then I also wanted a lot of opportunities off
the field, because I am a human and I am
a person, and I like to do things besides play
supple So I thought that was important, like do you
care about me off the field as much as you
do on the field. And so that was something that
I thought was really important for myself. And then obviously
I wanted every resource possible. I wanted a nutritionist. I

(42:56):
wanted a strength coach. I wanted a trainer. I want
a physical therapist. I wanted X, Y and Z as
mental coach. I wanted it at all. I wanted every
resource possible. So if you couldn't offer that, then onto
the next because this is my expectation and if you
want me to perform at the highest level, then you're
gonna need to meet those expectations. But for someone dealing

(43:17):
with with wanting to transfer, I think just know that
it's okay. And I was a big believer of I
stick to one team and I don't move around because
I don't like that, and I grind out with my
team and my family. That can still be the case,
but I think you have to choose you at some point.
I think what you want and who you want to

(43:39):
be is at utmost importance, and if someone's not meeting
that with you, then you just gotta be a big girl,
put those pants on and move on to the next thing,
because I promise you there's a lot of other things
out there in this world that will meet those expectations.
Whether I mean I always think about relationships and schools
and all that, but and speaking of transport, there is
a school that that's gonna appreciate and embrace exactly who

(44:02):
you are, and I think that's really important. So just
lean into your people, lean into what you're feeling, and
just trust it. Just know what's okay. You're not alone.
Everyone kind of goes through I will not everyone, but
people go through these these feelings and these emotions, and
you know, we're all a family together. Because I feel
like sometimes people have this bad outlook on transfers, like oh,

(44:23):
like you're just you're not strong, or you can't be
pushed and you don't want to be challenged. I'm like
that's not the case, Like, hey, that's not the thing.
I'm not weak, okay. I just know what I deserve
and what I want, and if that's not what's gonna
be received from a school, then I'll go find us
somewhere else. Like it's it's just like someone else with
a job. If a job's not gonna pay you a

(44:44):
certain amount of money and you want, you know, a raise,
and they're not gonna read it, why would you stick around?
Go find a job that's willing to pay you for
what you do. I'm like, it's the same thing. Like,
so just know it's okay and you're not alone in this,
and just really lean into your people.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
I feel like that is a message, not just whether
you're going through the transfer process, but in life. I
was even just thinking about man, this is what I
tell myself when it comes to dating. Shoot, there's I
am somebody's dream girl. Absolutely, I'm a dreamgirl, dream athlete,
dream shortstop, dream outfielder. Right, do not stop until you

(45:21):
find the school the person that wants to really coax
that and bring out the best you and love you
for you, because there's somebody out there for you. So
this is in all elements.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
There's too many fish in the seas, there's too many universities,
there's too many jobs. There's too many opportunities for you
to settle for some bs like know what you deserve
and just stick with that, because life is too short
to settle for some disgusting or lame or not worth it.

Speaker 1 (45:50):
Opportunity, opportunity, spouse job. This does for everything, everything to everything.
This was a word.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
Hey, we're not just dropping diamond on the softball fill.
We're dropping diamonds in the in the world and period.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
We are dropping diamonds. Yeah, I absolutely love that. We'll
be dropping more diamonds after these messages. You know it's
so dope too, because I remember watching on your Instagram

(46:26):
and you did the trend where you know it's you're
so good at softball and they put it in all
the all the different that I'm not gonna that was
That was it? That one put you back on.

Speaker 2 (46:37):
This anound, that one back honestly that it needs to
be stated over and over again because it gets overlooked sometimes.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
But yeah, yeah, one of the ones that stuck out
to me was one, yes, because I had the want
and the will to be great. And then another one
was I was willing to work through slumps, setbacks, and
tough losses instead of letting them define me, which to
me was so profound because you're not defined by failures
and are not defined by one bad game, two bad games,

(47:07):
doesn't matter how many. But for you, when you talk
about willing to work through those slumps, willing work through
the adversity, what was maybe the toughest adversity or setback
that you've experienced that you were able to work through.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
Obviously sitting out was not easy, so going through that.
But I think recently when I was going through was
it my last year? He has my last year? A
drought was in my bat and I could not hit
a ball to save my life. I think I batted
less than one hundred and fifty in a month, and
I remember going to the field every single day like Okay,

(47:41):
today is going to be the day. And I would
get so good at practice and I would show up
and I would be in that cage and I would
take extra streams and I would watch film and I
would talk through my thoughts and then I would get
to the to the game and it's like what are
you doing? Like what is what is happening? And I
remember I would go home and I would just cry

(48:01):
and cry and cry, and I'd be like, I don't
understand what is going on. I've tried this, and I've
changed my approach on this, and I've I've done this,
and I've talked to coach one about this, I've talked
to a mental sports psychologist to see if that was
something I needed, and like it was like everything I
was doing was not working, and I was like I
just don't understand, Like I don't get what it is

(48:26):
that I'm still failing, Like how am I still working
my butt off probably more than half the people out
here and I'm still not getting results? And I didn't
understand that. And finally it just it like it just
worked out for me. Honestly, I just was like, you
know what it is? What it is like, I I'm
done like sitting here and crying about this. Like what

(48:47):
is crying doing for me right now? Nothing? Like I'm
still getting the same thing over and go, and like whatever,
if I'm going to continue to strikeout, it can't get
any worse than this. Let's just say that this is
rock botto. Like who I guess We're just gonna keep
pushing because I've eventually have to do something. I eventually
had to change my track and so finally it just
clicked and I just let loose. And I mean the

(49:08):
number speaks for itself. I think I hit over like
six hundred or something crazy from what people have told me.
But that was a really really low point in my
career because I just didn't understand how I was doing
everything possible, and I mean in the weight room and
my nutrition and my work in my school and my mind,
like I was doing everything and I nothing seemed to work.

(49:32):
But when I think about it now that I've removed
myself and I've been away from that situation for a while,
I was applying so much pressure to myself to do
well that I failed. Like there was I was set
in the bar so so high, so high that I
wasn't even seeing like there was growth in all those
little moments to get me to that moment. I was

(49:53):
just like, Okay, I'm here and I want to be here.
Like I was not leaving any room, Like I was like,
oh there's I'm not going to work up. Nope, We're
not gonna climb the ladder. I'm just gonna shoot up.
And that's just that's just something I didn't understand at
the time. But there was just so much pressure in
my head that like, oh my god, I have to
get a hit. Okay, this this is back, I'm gonna
change it. This this is a time that's gonna be different.

(50:15):
Like there was so much pressure on every moment that
I just couldn't handle it because it was all in
my head for pressure and just it was an overwhelming feeling.
And yeah, it was a very low moment. I mean
I always crying, like all the time. You can ask
my boyfriend and my parents. I was like, this sucks.
I let's just I Like I literally went to coach
Wall and I was like, just take me out the lineup, Like,

(50:35):
just take me out the lineup. I don't care have
someone hit for me, like they'll probably do better than
I am. Like whatever, I'm done, Like I'm done, Like
I was at an all time low, like I don't
even want to hit, I don't want to do anything,
like just let it be. And then I was like okay,
Like why would you think like that? Why would I
let myself be weak and beat myself up? Like pick

(50:55):
yourself up. It's just a game, Like this is not
defining if I'm I'm gonna make millions of dollars. This
is not gonna define if I find love. This is
not gonna define if I get a job after this.
This is not gonna define if we you know, do whatever,
get an opportunity, whatever it might be. This is not
gonna define that. Like just just let it be. And

(51:15):
then all all things went out the window and there
was wow, what.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
Did coach Wanton saw you? Like when he came up
and said to him, I know he'd have been like,
what are you talking about?

Speaker 2 (51:25):
I think he just ignored me, Honestly, I think I
said it a bunch of times too, Like I remember
there was like a week's trail.

Speaker 3 (51:34):
I was like, you can take me out the lineup,
like just take me out the lineup, turn me off
the lap, and he just like, would you get door me?
And we'd be in the kids. I'd be like not feeling.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
This and he'd just be like, this is you're being silly.
I remember him telling me I do remember this. He's like,
I wish I had a mirror so you could watch
yourself every moment right now, because how you're acting is
actually pathetic.

Speaker 1 (51:58):
And I was like, whoa, Yeah, that's a sobering moment.

Speaker 2 (52:02):
Yeah. I remember being in the cage and being like
I just sat there and I was like I. First
of all, I was like, how dare you say that
to me?

Speaker 1 (52:11):
Right? Pathetic?

Speaker 2 (52:13):
That's not like I'm not pathetic. And then I was like, whoa,
there's a lot of truth behind that. Right now.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
I was gonna say that it light a fire under you.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
Yeah it did. And I was like, I didn't like
hearing that. I don't like being told how my actions
are pathetic or I'm looking lazy or my attitude showing
I don't like being told that. I don't like that.
I don't like being told that at all. And so
when he said that, I was like, oh, okay, Like
word bet, I'm about to show you. And then that

(52:41):
one thing led to other and I was working and
I was embracing my failure, and I was grinding a
little bit I don't want to say grinding harder, but
grinding with a little bit more intent, intenser, or a
little bit of a shift and how I was working
or there was a little bit of a tweak in
my head of why always doing something rather than I

(53:03):
had to do something. I was doing this because I
knew there was going to be good, instead of I
have to do this so I can be great.

Speaker 1 (53:10):
I love that you don't have.

Speaker 2 (53:12):
To do something. You just you want to do something.
You keep doing something because you know it's gonna come.

Speaker 1 (53:18):
I'm wanting to do this so that I will be
good at this thing that I'm doing, versus I have
to do something to make sure that I'm great and
acknowledging those those small moments when you do succeed that
you do okay, and even like maybe setting small goals
right if you feel like you're not you talk about
like the ladder, right, you're not at the top of
the ladder, maybe you're at step five out of fifteen,

(53:41):
and you just celebrate the fact that you reach step six,
versus being upset because you're not at step twelve, like
I'm actually I'm very happy I reached step six. Celebrating
those moments and allowing yourself to gradually get there rather
than being yourself up because you're not there as fast
as you want to be, right right, What was would
you say is the best advice coach Balton gave you?

Speaker 2 (54:03):
Well, he has so many little things that's hard to
like specifically think of one. I mean he didn't like
directly say this, but I think something that he's kind
of instilled into his athletes and me specifically is I
can control my attitude and my effort, and like that
goes for anything in life. I can control how much

(54:27):
work I put into it, and I can control my
attitude about it, and really like I can't control with
the umpire's calling. I can't control what the other picture
is throwing. I can't control, you know, how their defense
makes a great play. I can't control the weather. I
can't control the wind slightly blowing east. Now my ball
is not going to get out of the park. I

(54:48):
can't control that, that's literally, But I can control what
I did before to prepare for that game. And I
can control my attitude leading up to that moment, and
in that moment, I can control that. And so I
think that's something I've always thought of. It is like
I have to control what I can control and just
let everything else be Like it's just that's just how

(55:10):
it is. That's no matter what in life, you can
only control. And I said this at the very ring.
You can only can control what you can control. So
just stay in your lane and vision and just focus
on that because everything else is just something else to
distract you. This is something else to get you off
path and get you in another mindset and just screw

(55:30):
you up. So just stay right here with your vision
blockers on and just keep moving down your path because
everything falls into place. You just have to trust that.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
I love that. Just have to trust that, keep your vision.
When we say hat blockers back in the day, obviously
depending on how old you are, you do not remember
that at all. But put your hat blockers on, put
them on, and keep going, Just keep going, Just keep swimming,
Just keep swimming. Oh I got my hat to block. Wow,

(56:02):
that was a long time ago. Anyway, For those who
don't know, YouTube.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
It, Yeah, seriously, making making us feel old a little
bit so.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Great two thousands hit early two thousand, all before, honestly
before a lot of people were born. They are probably listening.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
I am born in two thousand, but I got an
old soul a little bit.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
So I won't say, yes, you're probably four or five.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
Yeah, I was young, but I know, trust me, I know.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
But but you know, that's the most important that you.
I do.

Speaker 2 (56:31):
I do. I'm educated fact.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
That there's so many things to describe it. You are
such an inspiration and from talking to you and knowing you,
be able to see what you've been able to accomplish,
and the words and the wisdom you're able to unleash.
The way you would describe yourself though, is fearless, hard working,
and caring, and I believe that that is a great
embodiment of who Skylar Wallace is, not just as a player,

(56:56):
but as a person. And you talk about controlling what
you control. We talked earlier about your social media things
that kind of stress you out and the things that you're doing.
But I want to give you some more props, another
reason to patch yourself on the back. Because hot girls
do lift weights, and they do Hot Girls Lift Weights
series is so important. It's important to show how fearless

(57:18):
you are, how hard working you are, how caring you are,
because I think oftentimes, at least when I was younger,
I didn't want to lift weights because I didn't want
my muscles to get too big. And that was such
a moment when I got to college when things changed
with like, Aja, what do you want? Do you want
to be an All American? Do you want to achieve
all these things that you want? Are you concerned about
with the next person who has no impact on your

(57:40):
goals or helping you reach your goals, has to say
about your muscles. It's like, yeah, now I want to be
an All American? All right, then let's get to work.
Let's change the shift of mindset. Let's get to work.
And so you putting out the hot girls lift weights,
I think is so impactful, not just showing obviously your
hard work, but hopefully inspiring young girls to know that, no,
to be successful, well, to be hot, to be bombed,

(58:02):
to be bad ass, lift those weights? Yes, why did
you kind of want to start showing that and posting
all those on social media?

Speaker 2 (58:10):
I think there's nothing sexier in a woman that if
you can just embrace who you are and if someone
doesn't like it, fine kick them to the curb. That's fine.
You know what you don't have. You don't have to
like me. That's a okay. But I'm gonna continue doing me,
and people are gonna like me for me for a reason.
They're gonna come. People are gonna come to me that

(58:32):
are meant to come to me. And I think that
was that something's so sexy me. So when someone can
just uniquely embrace who they are, I think that is
so bad ass. Like I'm just like, wow, that's great.
And then growing up, I was always told like, oh,
you're so you know, you're so ooh and you're you know,
you're muscles.

Speaker 4 (58:50):
And I'm like, at first, when I was young, I
was like, eh, Like, I'm like, that's so like a
manly thing to say, Like I'm just like that's so manly,
like oh like and that's no shame, you know. But
to me, I like then it just made me feel
like I was a boy and I was like gonna
be perceived as like masculine or whatever. And I was like, oh,

(59:12):
I'm a girl, you know, like I'm a woman and
I like to be strong I like to work out.
I like to move my body and do things that
are that it needs or that are important to stay healthy.

Speaker 2 (59:23):
And so it was something that was kind of over time.
I mean reading my comments and kind of reading some
people's on Summer's method of what he shares or what
Sierra would see on her page, and then my dms
and just little things here there. I'm like, Wow, these
little girls are like not really understanding that it's bad
ass to lift weights, like it's cool to squat three

(59:46):
hundred pounds or it's cool to bench press a plate,
like some girls can't do that, and they're like, wow,
I wish I could do that. And I realized that
a lot of my friends were like Skyler, like you're
so cool for doing this, like you're so strong, and
like they embraced who I was and what my abilities were.
And I was like, wow, like that is cool, you're right.

(01:00:07):
And then I finally started we started seeing women and
you're an example of it. And you know, there's Kelly Matthews,
who I looked up to, who she played college soccer
and now is a muscle mommy, And there's all these
USA girls who are strong and showing what they do
on their sports and how they train. I'm just like,

(01:00:28):
this is so badass that we have gotten to a
place to embrace this because women can live weights too.

Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
And let bomb all doing it right.

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
I can kick your eyes just like a boy can't.
Like I can keep up, like I can keep up.
I promise you, not even just keep up, but when
I can, I can keep up and whin like, don't
get it twisted. Do not get it twisted. And so
just by seeing all of that online and just by
comments and people in my ear, I was like wow.

(01:00:59):
And so I remember I was making the video and
I was like watching it and I was kind of like, hmmm,
I don't know, I don't really like this. And I
remember hearing this saying about social media that like you're
never gonna post something if you always wanted to be
at one hundred percent, Like sometimes you're gonna have to
post it and it's gonna be sixty percent, and sometimes
you're gonna post it's only gonna be eighty percent, and
sometimes it might be twenty percent. Just post it, just

(01:01:22):
post it. And so I remember I was watching this
post and I was kind of editing, and I was
like I don't really, I don't like it. I don't
like it. Sometimes I don't know I'm not filling it.
And I remember, like there was a clip I was like, ah,
I look so so manly, and I stopped myself right
there and I was like, whoa, whoa, wha, wha, whoa, whoa,
whoa whoa, back it up. I was like, you don't
think like that. You don't tell yourself that. Like you

(01:01:43):
like your muscles. I like having big biceps. I mean
these arms. I work hard for these, you know what
I say. Like I show up every day and kick
my own ass in the gym so I can look
good for myself, not for anybody else, not for anyone else,
for nothing else except for myself and no one else,
nobody else myself. Sometimes sometimes I'll be looking good for

(01:02:04):
my man, but besides that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
You are gonna marry and be like yeah, allegations.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
Yeah, Like I'm a hold on y'all. Like I'll be
hyping myself. I'm like, hey, you really did that, girl,
Like I'd be my own five girl, and then my
my man is just the bonus. He'd be hipping me
up too, you know what I'm saying. But like going
back to the post. I just remember watching it and
I was I changed my thought and I was like,
uh no, no, no, no, you don't get to talk to
yourself like that. And I remember saying, like, you know,

(01:02:34):
it's cool for girls to lift weights, and it just
came to me like hawk girls lift weights, and like,
I don't really care if people are like you you're
not hot. I think I'm hot. I think I'm a
very attractive woman. I think I'm good looking. I think
my body looks great. I do everything I want to
do to do that to make myself feel like that.
So I'm gonna embrace that and I'm gonna feel that

(01:02:54):
because I'm in control of how I feel about myself
and my emotions. And so right then it was like
hawk girls lift weights. And I remember watching it and
I was like, oh, I hope people don't like take
this like cocky or you know, like sensitive. And I
was like, wait, why do I care?

Speaker 1 (01:03:08):
Care? H period? Why get to that point of life
of like why do I care what y'all think?

Speaker 2 (01:03:15):
Right?

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
Is the most freeing. It's so freeing, it's so free
you can do whatever you ever get to that point ever.

Speaker 2 (01:03:22):
And like I remember I posted yesterday, I posted another
workout and I'll admit the song on the workout videos
might not be the cleanest song, and there's definitely some
words in there, but that's music that I listen to.
That's music that like, it's just around in today's world,
and that's just a vibe to me. And so I
was like, oh, you know, maybe like my my following

(01:03:44):
because they're gonna like this. And I was like, you
know what, if they don't like it, they can simply
unfollow me, plain and simple. This is my Instagram, this
is my page, this is my my this is who
I am. So if you don't like it, then I
don't know what to tell you, because I'm gonna keep
doing me and worry about myself and you can keep
that over there. So that was just something, and I

(01:04:04):
honestly appreciate you saying that because I want people to
know that it's okay to be strong, it's okay to
have big muscles, it's okay to look whatever way you
want to look, and if someone has a thought about it,
turn your cheek the other way and just keep wapping

(01:04:25):
because their opinion does not matter. I promise you it
does not matter. And if you're if someone's hating on you,
let me just say this, if someone's hating on you,
you're doing something right here, because you never hear someone
that's better than you hating on you. Right, They're always
trying to bring you up.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
We'll be dropping more diamonds after these messages. Haters are
gonna hate and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
Nothing.

Speaker 1 (01:04:58):
I would always say that in some like Ayja, what
are you at? The haters are gonna hate and there's
absolutely nothing you can So I'm keep doing I gotta do.
You just have to be focused on yourself, on your shoe,
and allow the people. If you are gonna talk like
people are gonna talk, you know, whether you're doing what
you want to do, what they're doing, or which you

(01:05:19):
don't want to do, whether you're trying to be perfect,
whether you're trying someone.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
Always someone's gonna have someone to say, so it just
doesn't matter.

Speaker 1 (01:05:26):
Another one of my favorite things is you be the biggest, ripest,
juiciest peach in the entire world, and there's still somebody
out there that just doesn't like peaches like you have
to just be the best you and your people will
flock to you. The people that love peaches, they're gonna
give you that credit.

Speaker 2 (01:05:44):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (01:05:44):
And so it's like women in sports, women that want
to be hot, girls that lift weights, women that want
to be successful, women that know the power of being
a strong, empowering and dominant woman. Even men who respect
those women and want to continue to lift does they're
the ones that are gonna be like, oh, hell yeah,
how do lift weights? Right? And that's that's my audience.

(01:06:06):
If you have something else to say, then you're just
you're just not my audience. That's okay.

Speaker 2 (01:06:10):
And I gotta give some credit to my man because
he is the best hype man, and not just to me.
I mean, don't get twisted what I'm about to say.
But he just loves how women are independent and strong
minded and just uniquely them, Like he just loves badass women.

(01:06:30):
And I think that is so attractive to embrace women
being capable of everything a man is capable of because
we are we are just as capable. And I think
that is something that a lot of people need to recognize,
male and female, Like it doesn't matter what gender you are,
what race, you are so much capable then what that

(01:06:51):
box they have you in is set too, Like you
are so capable of whatever it is. You just need
to focus on yourself and do what makes you happy
because that's all that matters.

Speaker 1 (01:07:01):
And be that girl. And I feel like everything everything
we say just go back to it. Just go that girl.

Speaker 2 (01:07:08):
If I'm going, I'm not going back for much, but
please please just tell yourself you're that girl. Literally, please,
that's all I'm gonna beg you to do. I don't
beg for much, but I'm not begging to do that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:19):
Scott, We're gonna go. We're talking about being that girl.
Head into the no fly zone segment, because if you
were out there turning the field into a no fly zone, you.

Speaker 2 (01:07:27):
Are that girl. Huh what would you say?

Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
Is it your favorite play that you've made in your career?

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Ooh, favorite play? I don't have like a favorite favorite play,
but I always love just like sliding in headfirst, I'm
just like, oh yeah, Like I don't know what it is,
but I'm like, this is just so bad, Like it
just something about that that really just lights a fire

(01:08:04):
in me. But playwise, I'm trying to think of like
a really really dope play. This is one that it's
not gonna. I don't know a lot of people were
gonna know this, But we were playing at the SEC
tournament and we're playing Arkansas, and there was this left
handed hitter that came up and she's a very strong girl,
like she has some umph behind the ball when she
hits it okay, and she ripped a ball so hard

(01:08:29):
to the five to six hole. I I don't know
how I made this play. It was just like a
reaction thing, and like in the moment, it just seems
like a normal backhand and like a whatever. But like
if you had heard that ball come off that bat
and like seeing it coming to you in a matter
of a less than a second, it felt like and

(01:08:50):
then you had to shift your feet and then throw
it over to first base, like you would understand how
complicated and hard that is, and like how much practice
when into that. Like my backhand is definitely not my
my forte. Like I am a glove side girly all day.
I can work up the middle all day. When it
comes to five to six, it's like my feet sometimes

(01:09:11):
get a little twisted and they don't really know what's
going on. And then again I gotta catch up and
you know, get with my hands, and it's just it's
sometimes a little complicated. But if you saw that play,
and I'm sure I think it's somewhere on Twitter. I
remember it being on Twitter, so I could I could
pull it up. But it was just it was such
a cool play because I had worked so hard for

(01:09:32):
that play and like had grinded on making my backhand
better and I did it, and I filled that ball
with it literally felt less than a second, Like she
hit it so hard, so hard. I remember my hand
hurting after it was being like, oh, like she really
got she really got that one. Like, yeah, she didn't
get all of it, because if she got all of
it probably would have been over the fence five hundred feet.

(01:09:53):
But it was just a play that show like my
work was paying off in a really cool moment because
I just I did that thing. I filled it in,
I got her out.

Speaker 1 (01:10:02):
What is the key to being an elite glove side girly?
How do you make those great plays at shortstop drop steps?

Speaker 2 (01:10:10):
You got to have good drop steps if you are
trying to move side to side and not have an
angle to the ball or you know, get to where
the ball is gonna be, don't move to where the
ball was. You got to move to where the ball
is gonna be. And so that drop step is so important.
And same thing with outfield. You can't move forward and
then go back. You got to go back to come
forward like you're just gonna get beat every single time,

(01:10:32):
like you're dropped up. Those real important. So I think
having yourself set in a good position is really really
important to get in those those plays up the middle you.

Speaker 1 (01:10:39):
Talked about earlier, about the time when like if you
missed a play at practice that you how you stay
back to prove yourself that you could get that ball
for you. When we talk about failures, failures is inevitable
in softball. What would you say is your favorite failure
that ultimately led you to some of your best successes.

Speaker 2 (01:11:01):
There's so many failures. I think. An ultimate failure, I think,
and it was part failure in part doubt, was when
I was told I wasn't good enough to be or
my abilities weren't quite there, or I wasn't quite good
enough yet to be on the national team. And that

(01:11:24):
was something that stuck to me because I was like, hmm, okay,
I thought I did pretty good and I thought I
was kind of deserving of that, and you know, was
making things necessary to make that goal achievable. And then
I was told that I wasn't quite ready and I
was like, he, well, how do you tell me when

(01:11:47):
I'm ready? And so for a lot of people, I
think they would assume that it is what it is
and kind of move on and that goal would never
you know, happen again or be able to be achievable.
For me, it was like, oh, okay, it's go time.
It's time to go to work. It's time to work, baby.

(01:12:08):
And it was a moment there that I just it clicked,
it turned on and I was like, okay, Like if
I want to do what I want to do, and
if I'm thinking these thoughts of you know, I want
to achieve X, Y and Z, and I want to
play a high university and I want to be on
the Olympic team and I want to win a gold medal,

(01:12:31):
then I got to step it up because there's people,
there's people working, and I knew at the camp some
of these girls. I was like, wow, how did you
do that or how did you hit like that? Like
I don't understand, Like that was really good. And I
was like oh, y'all, like y'all really work. And I
was a little bit younger at the time, so I'm
hearing these conversations with these girls and what they're doing,

(01:12:52):
and I was like, oh, okay, I got to step
it up. And so that to me, it wasn't a
moment of quite failure, like I didn't. I didn't quite fail,
but I did a sense of where I was doubted,
and I think that was a monumental moment for me
to really shift into what I wanted to do and

(01:13:12):
lean into my work and make things possible. And then,
obviously the biggest failure I would think of is that
that past year of just being at rock bottom and
just constantly and constantly failing and being punched in the mouth,
and I had to figure out how to punch back.

Speaker 1 (01:13:28):
What did that teach you about yourself?

Speaker 2 (01:13:30):
That I am so damn determined, that I am so
hard working, and I am so independent, and I am
so strong, Like I am so so damn strong to
be able to put up with what I've put up
with and gone through what I've gone through, and dealt
with what I've dealt with and failed as many times

(01:13:51):
I failed and picked myself up and kept going. Yeah,
some people give up and you know they stop at
you know, halfway or quarter of the way or maybe
even three fourths of the way. And I just kept going.
And there's not a something I am trying to reach.
I am just trying to strive every day to be
a little bit better and do something a little bit different,

(01:14:14):
to make my success a little bit greater than it
was the day before. And I think that kind of
sets me apart the more people, as I am so
determined for what I want. I want a desk right now,
and I'm sitting at my boyfriend's desk at home, and
I want my own desk. And now I am determined
to clean this closet out and hear so I can
put a desk in this room because I want a desk,

(01:14:36):
and I'm going to get a desk. And I think
that applies to a lot of things in my life,
is if I want something, I am going to go
one hundred percent at what I want because I am
determined to get exactly what I want because life is
too short to be sitting here and be like, oh right,
it works out. No, it's gonna work out, baby, Right,
I'm gonna find a way. I promise you. If I

(01:14:57):
want to be on that Olympic team, I'm going to
find a way to get my ass on that team.
If I want a new car, I'm going to work
my butt off to get that new car. I'm going
to get that. Like I want that for myself, I'm
gonna get it. So I think that's a big thing.
Is I'm just I've learned that I'm super determined and
what i want, super hard working and super super strong

(01:15:18):
willed and minded.

Speaker 1 (01:15:20):
And that's what you have to be to get the
things that you want to have in this road. You
have to be willing to take them. You can always
sit around and wait for them to come g sometimes
you have to go out and make it happen. From
travel ball to college softball to Team USA to your
debut as a professional softball player where you finished six

(01:15:43):
overall while leading the league in runs scored and earning
multiple MVP records. She is living proof that if she
wants it, Skyler is gonna go get it. There's also
always a stat to prove what Skyler has to say.

Speaker 2 (01:15:56):
I did not know those Those are new to me.
I did not know that there's.

Speaker 1 (01:16:01):
Always a stat last year, your first year as a pro,
then going into your second season as a professional softball
player with the AUSL Bandits, what are you most looking
forward to.

Speaker 2 (01:16:12):
The competition? I just love being amongst the best of
the best. I love competing, and I love picking people's
minds to make myself better and get inside of how
they do things, because a little tidbits here and there
kind of make you who you are. And so I'm
just really excited to compete with the best of the

(01:16:33):
best and get after it and just have a really
good time and really excel the sport into something that
it's deserving then been deserving off for a long time,
and just make impacts that are greater than just the
game of softball.

Speaker 1 (01:16:45):
Love continue to make impacts that are bigger than the
game of softball. Skyler is going to continue to remind
everybody that hawk girls slip weights. Yeah, reminding yourself and
anyone not just well, you're a softball player, but there's
always a program for you, a person for you, a destination,

(01:17:08):
a job that you are somebody's dream girl in all facets,
and do not stop until you reach those goals, until
you are in front of individuals that believe in that.
For you, that hard work and determination that Skyler has,
you put that on the field, put that off, and
you make the things that you want to have a chief.

Speaker 2 (01:17:28):
Amen, AJ Co Amen.

Speaker 1 (01:17:31):
The diamonds that Skyler dropped today were absolutely amazing. We
had to jump back to our original affirmation, don't compare
or contrast. Be that girl, be.

Speaker 2 (01:17:42):
That girl, bad ass. Yes, I love it, Skyler.

Speaker 1 (01:17:47):
Thank you so much for joining me today. I feel
like we dropped diamonds left and right. It's like almost
every every every time we even started to stink tents
and diamond was dropped.

Speaker 2 (01:17:56):
I'm ana have to go back and watch this episode
because there was a lot of good a lot lot
of good things going on in this conversation. I enjoy
talking to you though, and thanks for having me on here.

Speaker 1 (01:18:05):
Thank you so much. Whether it's Skyler's affirmation that we
brought in today, always remember also what we let off with.
Don't be too high or too low. Ride the wave
of success as far and as fast as it flows.
Thank you again, Schuyler, and I'll meet you all back
here next week on the Diamond Bye for now dropping

(01:18:33):
diamonds with AJ Andrews. Is an iHeart women's sports production
in partnership with Athletes Unlimited Softball League and Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. I'm your Host, AJ Andrews. Our executive
producer is Jesse Katz. Tari Harrison is our supervising producer,
and this episode was mixed and mastered by Mary Do.
Listen to Dropping Diamonds with Aj Andrews on the iHeartRadio app,

(01:18:55):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2 (01:19:01):
A nu

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