South Coast Times

Playing for Something Bigger than Myself with Ashley Prange

Sports are what you do, not who you are.

That's a lesson that took me a considerable amount of time to learn.

It took failure.

Traumatic experiences.

And transferring to a completely different school.

I spent the first three years of my collegiate career playing softball at Ohio State. I transferred to Alabama in May 2021 and now I am a few months away from finishing up my second and final year here.

While I have nothing but positive things to say about Ohio State, I can honestly say that Alabama completely changed my life.

Early on in my career, my entire identity had revolved around my success on the softball field. When I struggled at the plate and in the field with the Buckeyes, I felt like I was disappointing the expectations I had since I committed to OSU in 8th grade. On top of that, dealing with tragic events at Ohio State that deeply impacted my mental health sent me in a downward spiral quickly.

There was a time when I didn't know if I'd ever genuinely smile or laugh again with a ball in my hand. I needed to find my purpose outside of the softball field.

I didn't know it at the time, but Tuscaloosa was waiting for me to discover what I was meant to do in this life, other than swing a bat or play defense at the hot corner.

Original source can be found here