“I started playing when I was a baby, I’ve always played sports.”

Four-year varsity softball senior Georgia Hill has been involved with athletics her entire life. Tee-ball, softball, baseball, basketball, soccer, flag-football, and softball have all been sports Georgia has played since a young age, yet as she has grown older, one sport remained.

“When I was a junior I decided to focus on just softball,” Georgia said, who will be playing for College of Wooster in Ohio, next year.

In high school, Georgia has proved herself to be a relentless player both defensively and offensively. At the plate she has logged 136 hits while playing for the Highlanders, with 142 RBIs and 26 homeruns. Combine this with a senior year earned run average of under 2.17 and 343 career strike outs and the result is a 4-time First-Team-All-League, two-year team MVP, and senior year Western Alameda County Conference MVP, according to statistics provided by Georgia and CaptainU.com.

“I didn’t even think I’d make varsity my freshman year,” Georgia said. “It was really exciting and my parents pretty much jumped when I told them.

Georgia’s parents have been supportive of her in athletics since she was young.

“I remember my dad used to pitch to me in first grade,” Georgia said. “My parents come to all my games, it’s really helped me. He’s always been that side coach and my mom’s more of the cheerleader.”

Her father, Scott Hill, is now one of the assistant coaches on the varsity softball squad and has been a guiding factor in Georgia’s path to playing the sport beyond high school.

“After [Georgia’s] sophomore year, I began to realize that she really had the ability to play in college,” Scott said. “However, I was a bit skeptical and we ended up being late in the recruiting process and we didn’t have enough material to send to college coaches or scouts.”

As her senior year drew to a close, Georgia started to leave behind her college softball ambitions and eventually accepted to University of Oregon in April.

“It was a much bigger school than I originally saw myself at and there was much less of a chance I’d ever play softball there, even though I was thinking of walking on.”

In May things began to change, though. Georgia and her father created an comprehensive CaptainU.com recruiting profile; Georgia’s former coach Jenn Deering, previously a pitcher for Cal softball’s 2002 national championship team, wrote a letter on Georgia’s behalf; and her summer league coach Bill Mouat made contributions to the effort. After receiving phone calls from College of Wooster’s Dean of Admissions and head softball coach, Georgia learned that she had been admitted to Wooster.

“Wooster was a better fit [than Oregon] for me,” Georgia said. “I am so thrilled to be both attending and playing softball there next year.”

Immediately, Wooster’s coach Lori Schimmel sent out a detailed summer workout packet. The plan includes distance running, pushups, free weight training, and aerobic conditioning almost every day.

“It’s a huge packet,” Georgia said. “But with the opportunity the play there, it will certainly be worth it.”

In addition to the conditioning program, she will practice with Crossfire, a Lafayette-based softball club she has previously played on. Last summer, the team played at a televised national softball tournament in Utah.

“The girls on Crossfire are very intense and serious about playing. It’s their passion, even though it can get a little crazy,” Georgia said. “My teammates there combined with my teammates back home are a huge reason behind my success in softball.”