ROCKINGHAM — Softball fans from the coast of Wilmington to all across the state got a small taste of life in Richmond County on Monday.
Savannah Lampley, a freshman softball player at UNC-Wilmington and a former four-year Lady Raider standout, took over the controls of UNCW’s athletic department’s Instagram page.
The takeover initiative has been in action since college athletes saw their spring seasons come to an end in early March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Lampley became the latest UNCW student-athlete to give fans an insight to life at home, joining teammates Dominique Travers (senior), Anna Knox (junior) and Casey Jones (sophomore). Other programs featured over the last two months include the cross country and golf teams.
“We were in a team Zoom meeting and someone said I should do a takeover with my chickens,” Lampley laughed, adding her family recently built a chicken coop. “I texted Coach (Kristy) Norton about it and she said I was next on the list.”
She was notified by assistant director of media communications Eric Rhew and given the login to UNCW’s Instagram account. All day Monday Lampley shared what life is like in Richmond County, while also answering questions posted by fans.
Lampley began with a morning run at Hitchcock Creek, and followed that up with several video clips of her and younger brother JD Lampley working out at a local hitting facility.
In the afternoon, Lampley went fishing with friends and family in Ellerbe and put on a show about how to properly bait a hook.
“I just wanted to show what I typically do every day,” Lampley, a three-time All-State selection in high school, explained. “JD and I continue to work out during the pandemic, and we’ve been going fishing a lot lately so I thought why not share that (on Instagram).
“I take a lot of pride in the county aspect of where we live,” she added. “I wanted to show what my hometown was like because a lot of people are from Wilmington, Charlotte and bigger cities. My goal was to give them a taste of what small town life is like Richmond County.”
One of the questions asked was what Lampley loves most about her hometown, which she replied “it’s such a tight-knit, supportive community… we’re all like family.”
On the flip side, the question of what she loved most about going to school and playing softball at Wilmington was asked. Lampley’s response included it being a beautiful campus, its close proximity to the beach and having “wonderful” teammates and coaches.
Double majoring in business and recreation sports leadership and tourism management, Lampley and the Seahawks only got to play 23 of their 55 scheduled regular-season games. A left-handed hitting utility player who began starting games more consistently in the final handful of contests of the spring, Lampley was tied for second on the team in batting average (.333).
In her first career at-bat during the Red and Black Showcase at the University of Georgia, Lampley dug in as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the fourth inning against Howard University. She slapped the first pitch, a changeup, to the right-center gap for a standup double.
Starting four games and playing in 14 total games, Lampey went 7-for-21 at the plate with a pair of doubles and two runs batted in. She recorded a multi-hit game against the University of North Dakota on March 7, and tallied one RBI in games against Georgetown University in the same tournament.
“I hate that my freshman season ended so soon, but I’m glad to get an extra year of eligibility,” Lampley shared. “Things were just starting to click with the team and we were playing better, and I was getting hot toward the end.”
Of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, Lampley explained she’ll see where she is in three years to determine if she’ll use it.
Some of the highlights of her freshman season, Lampley said, were playing road games at Georgia and Auburn, as well as UNCW hosting several high-caliber weekend tournaments. In adjusting to college life, Lampley made the dean’s list twice and said a big change was getting used to a busy and varying schedule.
The “speed of the game is a lot faster” she added, but said fall and winter workouts helped her adapt to the new level of competition.
“This pandemic should teach everyone not to take the game for granted because you never know when it’ll be your last game,” she closed. “I’ve become more aware of how much drive and passion I have for softball.
“I know I’ll come out of this stronger and am ready to get back to school, my teammates and softball.”
