High school athletes invest a significant amount of time and effort to achieve success in their sports. While it can take a lot of work, Matti Terrell knows that it is worth it when the big moments come around.
“It takes a lot of self-discipline and good work ethic to be successful,” she said. “It also means taking advantage of the optional practices and working on my own time. I think the highlight of my career so far would have to be a slow-pitch game against Bristow. We were down by a lot but managed to work our way back in the last two innings. I hit the tying triple and we were able to win. We never gave up and fought hard for that win.”
Terrell is a sophomore at Cushing High School. Along with playing fastpitch and slowpitch softball, she is also on the powerlifting and track teams.
As an athlete, there are a number of people that Matti looks up to and strives to be like.
“I think my biggest role model would be Jayda Coleman,” she said. “She is a former softball player at OU. She is just very talented and fun to watch. Another would be Coach Rockwell (Vernon). She was my eighth-grade science teacher and middle school softball coach. She believed in me and pushed me on the field and in the classroom.”
The teammates that she is surrounded by have also played a role in her success and she is thankful for each of them.
“Makiah Shanklin is a teammate that I enjoy working with in practice,” she said. “We’re both in the outfield, and it’s just fun to compete with each other. We push each other to be the best version of ourselves. But in games, we also pick each other up after a mistake. I think that Brooklyn Williams and Faith Kessler are underappreciated members of our team. They’re both currently hurt and are unable to play. They both do a bunch for our team despite their injuries. I think they deserve more credit.”
