Former Bentonville standout Emily Perry looks to shine with UCA Bears
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (BVM) 鈥� There are a lot of gifted softball players in the country. Former Bentonville Tiger Emily Perry is one of those players.
鈥淚鈥檝e been around softball my whole life,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淎s soon as I could throw the ball to my dad, I [did]…my older brother played baseball, so whenever he was practicing outside with my dad I would always go outside and play them…I finally got my hands on softball and I knew I [would] love it right away.鈥�
Her love for the sport helped her become one of the best players in Arkansas and that鈥檚 evident as she was named the 2020-21 Gatorade Arkansas softball Player of the Year.鈥澛�
鈥淓veryone wants to be Gatorade Player of the Year,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淏ut that was never my thought during the season. I was so focused on winning…but it was an incredible honor [to win the award].
During her award-winning season, Perry had a batting average of .490, hit 10 home runs and had 49 RBIs. Perry also stole 14 bases. But the most impressive thing that happened during the season was that she only struck out twice.聽
鈥淚鈥檒l remember those strikeouts,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淭here have been a ton of people that have helped me with my swing. But I just try to go to the plate with an open mind.鈥�
Along with Perry鈥檚 dominant streak at the plate, Perry helped Bentonville softball capture its fourth state title in the last five years.聽
Flashback Friday: "Did you know" about the Tigers 2021 team. Last year the Tigers outscored their conference opponents 176-7. 10 of the 14 games were decided by run-rule and the Tigers posted 10 shutouts in conference play.
— BHS Tiger Softball (@bhs_tiger)
鈥淲hen we played against Emily Perry, we tried pitching her different ways and different locations, all to no avail,鈥� Fort Smith Northside High School head softball coach David Little said in a .聽 鈥淪he is a dominant player at the plate. We never got her out. She is a very good second baseman as well.鈥�
Following the state title season, Perry announced that should be heading the University of Central Arkansas to continue her athletic and academic career. The Bears are coming off a 37-19 season. And with the addition of Perry and others, the Bears are primed to make a run for the Southland Conference title after going 21-6 in conference play.
Welcome to Bear Nation Emily Perry!!!
鈥�2019 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette HS Softball Newcomer of the Year
鈥�2019 All-State Underclassmen State Softball Team
鈥�2019 State Runner-Up
鈥�2018 State Champion
鈥�2019 Conference Champion 馃惢— UCA Softball (@UCASoftball)
鈥淔or the longest time I didn鈥檛 know if I wanted to play in college,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淏ut after my sophomore year, I knew I wanted to play in college. I went to Central Arkansas’ softball camp鈥� and four of the seniors that I played with at Bentonville ended up committing there. I loved all of them so I thought it would be really cool to play with all of them again. UCA is where I really wanted to go.鈥�
Perry is currently at UCA preparing for the 2022 season and one of her goals is to help the Bears win as many games as possible and hopefully, Perry can help them capture a Southland Conference regular season title for the first time in program history.聽
鈥淚 want to be in the lineup but it鈥檚 going to be hard with a lot of great players already at UCA,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淏ut our goal as a team is to win as many games as possible.鈥�
