ROCKINGHAM — A productive week at the plate has named a local softball player as the Official Richmond County Female Student-Athlete of the Week.
Senior Jakayla Steele came up big with the bat in three games last week, helping the Lady Raiders earn a pair of wins.
Nearing the midpoint of her senior season, Steele earned her second career recognition by The Richmond Observer. She also received it during her sophomore season.
Athletic Profile
Year: Senior
Spring Sport: Softball
Position: Third Base
Years on Varsity: 4 years
“CLASSROOM CREDITS” WITH JAKAYLA STEELE
Taking honors classes at Richmond Senior High School, Steele is also a dual enrollment student who takes courses at Richmond Community College. Working toward earning college credits, she’s almost at the halfway point of her final semester of high school.
During the fall semester, Steele made an A in Economics and Personal Finance Honors (90) and had a B in Weight Training Honors (80). Taking Spanish 112 and Sociology 210 at RichmondCC, Steele passed both classes.
With the end of the third nine-week period quickly approaching, Steele is taking two courses at the college this spring — Art 111 and Math 143. She currently has high marks in Weight Training Honors (93) and English III Honors (83) at Richmond.
Boasting a 3.052 weighted grade point average, Steele plans to attend Wingate University and earn her degree to become an athletic trainer.
“BATTER UP” WITH JAKAYLA STEELE
Richmond played one Sandhills Athletic Conference game last week before ending with a two-game non-conference series. Both of the Lady Raiders’ wins were successful comeback attempts, one against Lee County and Northside-Pinetown high schools.
According to the team’s Game Changer, Steele went a perfect 9-for-9 at the plate in those three games for a 1.000 batting average. She connected for six singles, two doubles and a triple, while driving in one run batted in and scoring seven times.
In an 11-10 win over Lee County, Steele had two base hits. Three nights later as part of a loss to Northside-Pinetown, she swatted three more hits — two singles and an RBI triple, which rolled to the wall in right field.
Steele’s final four hits — two doubles and two singles — were part of a 9-8 walk-off win over Northside-Pinetown Saturday.
Through 11 games this season, Steele leads the team in batting average (.625), hits (20) and doubles (7).
The Lady Raiders (4-7, 2-3 SAC) will host Scotland High School Tuesday at 7 p.m.
RAPID RESPONSE VIDEO WITH JAKAYLA STEELE: Click here to watch a video interview.
The Richmond Observer will publish its Official Richmond County Male Student-Athlete of the Week soon.
