MOUNT PLEASANT — There might be no better instance of the lifestyle exchange going on inside the Hillsdale High softball software than Jaidyn Bigelow.
As a freshman 4 seasons, Bigelow joined a software at one in every of its lowest factors, and over her first seasons, the Hornets received simply one sport.
By her senior year, but, Bigelow helped the Hornets win more games than the preceding 3 seasons mixed in a turnaround marketing campaign.
Now, Bigelow is reaping the rewards for her tough work, with a selection to the MHSSCA All-Star Game on July 17 at Margo Jonker Stadium at Central Michigan University.
She’s the primary participant from Hillsdale High selected to the competition in the latest memory and possibly ever.
“I got a call all of a sudden from the coach of one of the Division three groups, and he requested me if I could be inclined to play,” Bigelow stated. “At first I notion it was some type of prank, however when I realized it become real I freaked out a little bit.
“It’s just any such cool opportunity and no longer something I ever might have taken into consideration.”
For the Hornets, Bigelow became an every-day pitcher, frequently beginning the first sport of doubleheaders, and one of the crew’s most productive hitters at the plate during a marketing campaign where Hillsdale won its most video games on account that its lone district title at the begin of the last decade and swept a doubleheader for the primary time in numerous years.
Bigelow’s production helped her earn a spot at the All-District softball crew, earning her the chance to qualify for a spot inside the All-Star game as a graduating senior who made an all-district, all-regional or all-nation listing.
“It’s a great possibility for Jaidyn and it’s well-deserved, given how difficult she’s labored and what kind of she’s invested in our program,” Hillsdale educate Lauren Whedon said. “It’s an extraordinary opportunity for her to represent herself, her faculty and her network on a larger stage, and that’s something she’s completed well her whole career at Hillsdale.”
Bigelow will play in the Division three-sport at eleven:30 a.M. On July 17, and he or she’ll be part of her crew in advance inside the week to meet different individuals of the all-star squad and undergo multiple practices overseen using some of the country’s maximum embellished excessive college coaches.
“I’m simply hoping to have amusing with it and to research loads,” Bigelow said. “I’ve been blessed with an amazing train in Lauren, and that is a chance to paintings with other fantastic coaches and gamers and get new perspectives on softball and on how to method the game.”
It’s a blessing for Bigelow, who idea her softball career turned into over while her crew lost to Homer in the district semifinal on June 1.
Now, she gets every other hazard to step at the diamond and write one final chapter in her excessive faculty profession.
“I certainly a concept that I became carried out, and that I’d need to flow on and discover a manner to make peace with now not playing for Hillsdale any greater,” Bigelow said. “To get the hazard to the position that of touch longer, placed the jersey on one extra time and play the game I love, it’s something I’m thankful for.
“It’s not a hazard I ever anticipated I’d get in my wildest dreams, and I want to make the maximum of it and make some recollections so one can stick with me for the relaxation of my lifestyles.”
Bigelow’s achievement should have a big impact on more than simply herself, as Hillsdale appears to preserve constructing its software transferring forward.
As a large part of the Hornets’ increase, Bigelow noticed firsthand the adjustments Whedon brought to the program inside the last two years, and that Bigelow and her fellow seniors helped to spread.
“I assume the most important issue becomes just our attitude and mindset,” Bigelow stated. “We have been hungry for the fulfillment, however, Coach Whedon helped us consciousness in on softball and simply go out on the sphere and play our sport.
“We had been capable of taking the strain off, have a laugh with what we were doing and play our sport, and that always allows.”
As a successful made of that new culture, Bigelow can function as a model for younger players within the program.
“When you have got someone purchase in, do the right matters and succeed, different players see that,” Whedon stated. “She’s a person that different human beings can inspire with what she’s executed.
“We’ve got appropriate players in this software, whatever our document is, and this feature proves that.”
