Gracie McKee is getting an opportunity to continue her playing career in college after she signed recently with Pearl River Community College.
The Lake senior was recruited to play in the outfield. She said she had visited Meridian Community College, but she felt right at home in Poplarville.
“It kind of felt like home, I guess. Like, it felt like a high school still,” McKee said. “It didn’t feel like I wouldn’t know anybody.”
Lake coach Jake Loper said he’s seen McKee mature quite a bit since she started with the Lake program. She struggled a bit with coming to a new school and getting used to Loper’s coaching style.
“I’m hard on them at times. And I don’t think she was used to that. Well, she overcame all that and got a lot more mentally tough. And then there at the end, she kind of caught fire, and she had multiple big hits. A lot of our rallies in the state championship would be when we’d score three runs, five runs started with her getting on base with two outs and stuff like that. So, you know, she, she was really big in the playoffs and the state championship,” Loper said.
McKee said the state championship last year was one of the highlights of her career, which started when she 6. She then played travel ball beginning at 13 and is now moving on to a college career.
“I always thought I would either cheer or play softball in college,” McKee said. “When I got to eighth grade, I had to decide whether I would do cheerleading or play softball. I decided to lay down cheerleading and start doing travel softball. I’m excited to get to play college softball.”
