For Annie Aldrete, there was never any doubt as to where she would play her college softball, but nobody expected her to make the impact she has at this point in her freshman season.
It took Aldrete no time at all to fall in love with the University of Tennessee. It took the Monterey, Calif., native even less time to establish herself as one of the top freshmen in the nation.
“As soon I walked on campus, I thought, ‘This is where I want to go,'” Aldrete said. “Then when they offered me, I called my dad and he said, ‘If you want to, go ahead,’ so I committed.”
Aldrete did not begin her softball career until the age of 14, but it was not long before she had drawn the interest of many top-level softball programs. When she committed to Tennessee as a sophomore in high school, she was drawing interest from schools such as Washington, Florida and Oklahoma.
Co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly have developed a strong recruiting base in California, and are able to consistently get some of the state’s top talent.
Exactly half of Tennessee’s current roster is from the Golden State.
With so many California girls on the team, the transition across the country was made a little easier for Aldrete, along with the close-knit feeling the Weeklys create.
“Tennessee is a very big family atmosphere,” Aldrete said. “I really like how Ralph and Karen are married, and they do act as sort of our parents out here. It’s our home away from home, and they just really make you feel comfortable. If you feel home sick Karen is the first person to be there for you.”
It’s rare for a true freshman to make a huge impact, especially in the SEC, which has become one of the nation’s premier softball conferences. However, with the regular season winding down, Aldrete finds herself atop of the Tennessee stat book.
She has recorded a .381 average, which is good for second on the team behind All-American shortstop Madison Shipman. She is second on the team with 11 home runs, and is tied for first with 45 RBI.
“You never expect freshmen to make that kind of an impact,” Ralph Weekly said. “I knew when I saw her play in the National Championship top level summer game, she got the game winning hit in the bottom of the 7th, and I knew she was a quality kid right from the start.”
Even Aldrete didn’t expect to play this big a role in the Tennessee lineup her freshman year, but she credited her coaches and teammates with her pushing her to be successful.
“I think it has a lot to do with Karen,” Aldrete said. “She pushes me and all the other freshmen every day to not feel like a freshman. We do not get treated like freshmen, there’s no ‘I’m a freshman’ excuse. Everybody’s equal and comes out and plays there hardest every day.”
Her impressive freshman campaign has not gone unnoticed, as Aldrete was named a top 25 finalist for the NCAA freshman player of the year award which will be announced later in the year.
Making the transition from high school to college is never easy, especially in the SEC where you could be facing an All-American pitcher on any given night. Mentally it can be hard to prepare to face these pitchers, but Aldrete said her teammates have helped build her confidence this year.
“As a freshman to be doing what I’m doing, I give all the credit to my teammates and coaches,” Aldrete said. “Coming in here I did not have the confidence I would do that. I just thought I would go pinch hit every now and then, but my teammates and my coaches have pushed me to that level where I’m comfortable.”
