Texas Aces High School Highlights

January 29, 2007
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Rhiannon Kliesing
Special to StudentSportsSoftball.com

Editor's note: Rhiannon Kliesing, who pitches for the Texas Aces club team, led Pearland (Texas) High to the state playoffs in 2006 as she hurled 13 shutouts, two no-hitters, struck out 285 batters and had a 0.34 earned run average. At the plate, she hit .343 average and her all-around excellence earned her 1st team EA SPORTS All-American honors.

Hello again! I finally found a little bit of time to write another blog. After I write this I'll be heading out to Sugarland to help coach a practice for an 8-U team called the "Little Aces." It was my summer coach's idea to do this. The little ones wanted us to be their big sister team since we're the Texas Aces. They really look up to us. It's a nice feeling.

On a different note, high school softball season has begun! I have been looking forward to this season since summer! We just completed our first full week of practice, which isn't really saying much, since we were only able to get on the field one out of six days. The weather was definitely not on our side this week. Luckily, though, we have a new indoor hitting and pitching facility, so we were able to get a lot of swings in and the pitchers and catchers got to practice, too.

Our first game of the season is Tuesday the 30th against Clements. We played them a few times during fall ball, but we didn't have our full team. The game should be interesting. There will be a lot of moving people around to different positions. We currently have five freshman on varsity. I get frustrated with them sometimes, but I remember being a freshman and I know it's not easy. They'll get the hang of it.

I have still been running and hitting the weight room pretty hard. Now that after-school practice has started, I have switched to only morning workouts. There is just not enough time after practice to go work out and do homework and things like that. Waking up at 5:00 a.m. four days a week can get pretty exhausting. There are some days when my alarm goes off that I just want to hit the snooze button and sleep for another hour, especially if I didn't go to bed early enough the night before. Two of my teammates usually join me in my morning workouts. It's nice to have some company, especially on running days when we're outside on the track and it's still pitch black outside. It's kind of scary.

Some of our other teammates and friends think we're crazy for waking up that early to work out. At times, I agree with them, but I know it will all pay off. The thought of winning the state championship this year keeps me motivated. I want that more than anything right now.

Last year, I ended up receiving several awards by the end of the season, which was great, but I would trade every single one of those awards for the state title. Sometimes I wonder what people think about me after they read a list of all the awards I've gotten, especially after last year. I wonder if they think that I'm extremely cocky and have a huge head like some people do when they get a little attention. Honestly, I'm not like that at all.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people brag. I really can't stand it. If people already know you have talent, there's no need to remind them every chance you get. I have a lot of respect for people that are humble, so I try to be as modest as I can, and hopefully I will earn respect for that. It's not all about the awards. Now, I'm not saying that my success as an individual is not important to me, because it definitely is. However, the success of my team matters more. I try to make sure that my teammates always come first.

Being fairly well-known in the softball world is not as glorious as what some people might think. It comes with a lot of pressure. Having already signed with Texas A&M, you'd think I'd have less weight on my shoulders, and I do, to a certain extent. However, I often feel like there is a big target on my back, and that people can't wait to see me fail.

The summer after I committed, I was a little insecure during tournaments. Whenever I wasn't pitching my best against a team, or if they got a few hits off of me in a row, I could just imagine the other players thinking, "She's going to A&M? She's not even that good." Then I would get even more self-conscious and play worse than I was to begin with. It took me a while to overcome this, but once I did, it didn't bother me anymore.

Now, I rarely let the other team rattle me. I know where I stand and that I deserve to go to A&M. Sure, I have bad games every now and then. I'm human. But instead of getting upset or worked up about it, I figure out what I'm doing wrong, and I fix it. This high school season should be very interesting. I know that the other teams in my district would like nothing more than to beat me at the plate. I'll try my best not to let that happen.

I'm not really concerned about what awards I get after this season is over. If the list is longer than last year's, great. If not, that's also great. My goal this year is to take my team to the state tournament one pitch at a time. Nothing else matters. They have been working so hard everyday, and to not make it to state would be a huge let-down because they really deserve it.

I'm not a one man team, and none of the awards I got last year would have been possible without my teammates, so I feel like I owe it to them to give them everything I have this season and leave it all on the field.

This year is ours.

-Rhiannon