Standing in the pitching circle, Emma Solis winds up her arm to pitch the yellow softball to the opposing school.

Solis, a senior, has been playing softball since she was five, and has been on the Bowie varsity team since her freshman year.

“I started because my parents wanted me to. I had a lot of fun and didn’t think anything of playing,” Solis said. “Then I realized that I liked to win and so I practiced a lot so I could help contribute to my team winning games.”

While competitiveness is a driver for Solis, there is more to the game that inspires her passion.

“My favorite part of being on the team is how much fun we have together,” Solis said. “From playing hacky before the game, to getting snow cones from Sno Beach, which is near our home field, to listening to music and getting ready for the game.”

Other team members attest to the positive environment of the team, and Solis’s contributions to the team atmosphere.

“She brings a fun and energetic attitude in the dugout, and she’s overall a lot of fun,” sophomore Julianna Dankert said. “She’s a great person and deserves to be recognized for her accomplishments.”

Alongside the light-hearted nature Solis brings to the team, she has proven to be an asset to the team athletically.

“I think her pitching carries our team when she does really well which helps us because then we win,” Dankert said. “We’ve won a lot of games to zero because of how well she’s been pitching.”

Achieving as much success in a sport as Solis has, is a difficult task and Solis is not without her own struggles.

“In order to do well at something and be better than others you have to put in extra time practicing on top of what is normal,” Solis said. “And then getting home late and doing homework or waking up early to finish something you didn’t get to the night before. And then on top of that finding time to hangout with friends when you barely have time for yourself is hard.”

The bustling schedule often calls for sacrifices, of schoolwork, sleepovers or self-care and Solis has a clear preference.

“Softball is very time consuming in the fall. I spend lots of time away on the weekends and late practices far away,” Solis said. “It forces me to make a choice between softball and everything else and I pick softball 95% of the time.”

Though it improves her athletic skills, this choice comes at a cost, oftentimes being her relationships with others.

“Softball has made it so that I don’t get to see my family all the time so I have missed some of my siblings’ birthdays,” Solis said.

Not only is Solis facing her own issues, the Bowie team has also had their share of challenges this season.

“This season just crept up on us, and we lost a lot of players from last year so our team this year is very young,” Solis said. “Learning to play together as a team seems like the greatest challenge so far.”

Despite the difficulties Solis has faced, many people in her life have provided their support.

“My family has helped me so much with supporting me and allowing me to have fun with the sport,” Solis said. “Coach Wissel has been amazing at taking the stress and pressure off and making sure that I have fun while I’m playing.”

Many athletes who start young begin to drift from their sport, but Solis’ passion has continued to persevere.

“Honestly I think the fact that I wasn’t good at softball when I was younger, and I thought it was for fun allowed me to enjoy it while competing at a higher level,” Solis said. “That’s allowed me to love the game and not get burnt out after playing for over 10 years.”

Solis’ passion isn’t deteriorating anytime soon, her love for the game continuing strong into her post-high school career.

“Next year I’m moving to Florida to play college ball, and once I finish college I will probably be done with softball until I join some slow pitch league in my 30’s,” Solis said.

As for the remainder of her senior year at Bowie, the team has goals to make it as far as possible in playoffs, leaving some responsibility on Solis’ shoulders.

“There is always pressure to do well, and I think this year I have felt it the most,” Solis said. “Each game I want to do better than the last for my team and that can be difficult.”