LOS FRESNOS — Heading into the 2017 softball season, Los Fresnos freshman Reba Reyes knew what she ultimately wanted to accomplish as she began her high school career with the Lady Falcons.
She wanted to be the successor at shortstop following the departure of last year’s senior leader Maya Guevara.
“I have been playing since I was four years old so I expected to at least throw the ball from short to first,” Reyes said. “I didn’t expect the shortstop spot until I realized Maya was a senior last year. After that, I trained for it and I told my dad to hit ground balls to me and throw the ball as hard as he can because you have to be alert. I just knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
Reyes took the starting role and ran with it this spring, and became a solid infield presence for the Lady Falcons. For her efforts, she has been named The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro Softball Newcomer of the Year.
Reyes’ first season was a big one as she complemented her infield play with a .490 batting average, paving the way to District 32-6A Freshman of the Year honors.
But while fellow players and coaches were confident they had a potential future starter on their hands, Reyes never got ahead of herself.
In fact, she worked harder.
“It started getting closer to softball season and other people on the team told me I didn’t have to worry about a thing and that I would make varsity,” Reyes said. “I never wanted to have that mindset. It’s good to have expectations so that I could meet them, but I didn’t want to have them so high and not make it. I tried to work hard for my coaches, impress them as much as I can.
“It was a lot to go through, but it was worth it.”
Head coach Traci Blackman began to see signs of Reyes’ potential after she moved into her athletic period following volleyball season.
It was at that point that she saw how far along Reyes was in her softball development.
“Just watching her fielding, her flooring and her athletic abilities, I was very impressed,” Blackman said. “As freshmen, they are players still developing, but you can see she was a little bit ahead of some of the other girls. She sets expectations high for herself and I’m going to as well for the next three years. She still has some fine tuning to do but that will come.
“She can end up being a great leader just by her work ethic and presence.”
From that point on, Reyes admitted that shaking the freshman feeling off the field was hard as her older teammates took on harder classes and more responsibility.
But on the field, she believes she fits like a glove.
“When I’m playing, I feel like I fit in because everyone is working so hard,” Reyes said. “During the game, you have that want-to-win kind of feeling and when I look around, we’re all so dedicated. When I felt that I fit in on the field, it was a good feeling and I didn’t feel so much like a freshman.”