KEVIN NARRO | VALLEY MORNING STAR
SAN BENITO — On Thursday, senior Joanna Gonzalez became the second Lady Greyhound this season to ink her letter of intent to play softball at the college level. Gonzalez signed on to take her talents to San Antonio’s Our Lady of the Lake University.
“I went to a softball camp there on campus and the coaches liked what they saw and I was offered a spot,” Gonzalez said. “My travel coach told me about the camp so I decided to attend the camp. I really liked the church, that caught my attention and just the campus itself was beautiful.”
Gonzalez made the move from third base to catcher last season as a junior and was named The Valley Morning Stars Defensive Player of the Year. As a junior, Gonzalez provided a steady hand behind the plate with a .944 fielding percentage while committing just one error through 32 games. “I plan on taking what they give me,” Gonzalez said. “I love to play and I’m ready to fill in wher-ever they need me,”
Our Lady of the Lake is a part of the Red River Athletic Conference and participate in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Gonzalez plans to major in accounting.
“This has always been a goal of mine,” said Gonzalez. “I have been playing (softball) for 10 years now and going to college has always been a priority of mine. When I was 12 I realized I could play at the next level. I saw the older girls sign and go play so I wanted to do the same and now that I have signed I feel relieved and I’m ready to get the season started.”
“I’m going to have to grow up a little bit more, because I’ll be on my own. I’ll have to manage my time a lot more and get used to the different schedules for sure. I know the college level is a lot quicker so I know I’ll have to adjust to that as well.”