Sophomore Jordan Warbinton has a unique story in her journey to softball, as last year she made history by being the first girl in Warren Central history to be on the baseball team.
Warbinton has been playing baseball since she was 5 years old and began by playing coach-pitch baseball because she didn’t want to play soccer. It just wasn’t her thing. But baseball was.
While playing softball is a whole new game, the overlap in similarities between the two sports allows her to apply what she already knows to this upcoming season.
“It feels good,” Warbinton said. ”It’s a new experience, and I get to transfer my knowledge from baseball and apply it to softball.”
Warbinton’s reason for switching to softball from baseball didn’t happen overnight. Her change to softball was because, the older that she got, she knew she could potentially begin to fall behind due to the physiology between men and women.
Another reason was because in softball she would have a lot of opportunities open to her that would be more unlikely on the baseball team.
“If she transferred over to softball, she could be a superstar and possibly get college scholarships offered, which would never happen in baseball,” coach Joshua Ott said.
According to Dylan Thompson, a former teammate and close friend of Warbinton’s, the two of them met playing baseball in the little league together and have been best friends ever since.
He said he and the other friends she’s made on the baseball team miss her, but they are excited for her new journey.
“She deserves the softball position,” Thompson said. “She’s worked hard for it, and she needs that.”
While she misses her teammates and had a great time on the baseball team, she says that she still plans to come out to their field as time permits during their season to support them as they would support her.
“I definitely miss playing with my coaches and friends, but I try to visit them on their field as much as I can,” Warbinton said.
As Warbinton leaves one team, she enters another. One of her new teammates on the softball team, freshman Jordyn Dever, says she is excited to have Warbinton catching for her.
“I feel really good about it,” Dever said. “She’s a great role model, and she is just a good person, and it’s just good vibes all around.”