ROCKINGHAM – Taylor Parrish, a junior on the Richmond Senior High School softball team, has been named the final Official Richmond County Female Athlete of the Week for the spring sports season presented by McNair Auto Sales.
During her second season at the varsity level, Parrish played a pivotal role in a powerful lineup that saw the Lady Raiders go 24-5 and advance to the Western Regional Finals for the second consecutive year. Despite Richmond falling short of its top goal of winning a state championship, Parrish came through in the second half of the season with her bat. Her nomination comes on the heels of her first career grand slam, which she hit in the season’s final game.
Athletic Profile
Name: Taylor Parrish
Age: 17
Year: Junior
Spring Sport: Softball
Positions: Designated Player/First Base
Years on Varsity: 2 Years
Height & Weight: 5’-8”, 160 pounds
Experience: 13 Years
RSHS Academics: As her junior year approaches its final week, Parrish is enrolled in Richmond’s Health Sciences Cluster and is an A-Honor Roll student. Not only has she put in the effort on the diamond, but she’s excelled in the classroom as well, currently maintaining a 4.4 GPA and is ranked in the Top 30 of the graduating class of 2019.
During her spring semester, Parrish took Honors Chemistry, Honors English III and Multimedia and Webpage Design at RSHS. She’s also taken advantage of the dual-enrollment classes through Richmond Community College, as she completed History 132 and Spanish 112 this spring. During the fall, Parrish completed History 130 and Spanish 111 also at RichmondCC.
“I love to help people and am thinking about becoming a nurse or a physician’s assistant,” Parrish explained when asked why she chose her cluster. “My teachers have done a really good job at introducing me to these topics and have influenced what I plan to do in college.
“My favorite course I’ve taken is Health Sciences I,” she continued. “In that class, I learned all about the human body and how diseases can take over. It really taught me how everything makes you, you.”
RSHS Sports: Like numerous Richmond athletes to be honored with this recognition before her, Parrish is a multi-sport athlete for the Lady Raiders. Aside from her two seasons with head coach Wendy Wallace on the varsity softball team, Parrish played junior varsity softball during her ninth grade year.
During the fall sports season, Parrish has dabbled with both volleyball and tennis. As a freshman, she played volleyball at the Ninth Grade Academy, and transitioned to the junior varsity team under Ashleigh Larsen as a sophomore. This past year, Parrish traded one court for another, as she joined Mike Way’s tennis program.
“I mostly played in the doubles matches,” Parrish said of her first year on the tennis court. “I was usually paired up with Elizabeth Burns, Emily Parsons or Chloe Wiggins. I liked being introduced to a new sport, as I had never played tennis (competitively) before.
“A lot of my friends said I should join the team, so I that’s what I did,” she added. “It was a lot of fun, and I especially enjoyed the team aspect of it and sharing the court with my friends. I’m not the fastest, so I like playing the front position so I could slam the ball down.”
RSHS Extracurriculars/Volunteering: Parrish keeps busy off the field and away from her studies as she’s heavily immersed as a general member in Richmond’s National Beta Club and National Honor Society. Having participated in the National Junior Beta Club at Rockingham Middle School in seventh and eighth grade, Parrish continued her service as a freshman. This spring, she was inducted into NHS, which was the first time she was eligible to join.
In the community, Parrish can often be found lending a helping hand with several organizations, more specifically United Way of Richmond County and Richmond County Hospice. With United Way, Parrish revealed that she’s helped stuff envelopes and goody bags, helped with Stuff a Bus and hot dog sales, and offered her services during the Day of Caring. With RCH, she volunteered at this year’s Grief Camp, where she offered support to local youth who had lost a loved one.
Hobbies: Some hobbies Parrish enjoys when she’s away from the field are “having fun with friends” and “going to the gym every day” at Evolution Health Club. She’s also an avid lover of the outdoors.
“I really like to fish,” Parrish said. “I like fishing for crappy and bass. My grandparents have a boat and we go out on Lake Tillery a lot. We go pretty regularly and it’s a nice break from softball to spend time with family.”
Interesting Fact: For most students anywhere, at any age, it’s nearly impossible to go an entire school year without missing a day due to an illness, dentist appointment or vacation. However, Parrish is looking to wrap up her junior year with perfect attendance from day one -- of kindergarten that is.
“I have never missed a day of school,” Parrish said with a grin. “I started out at Richmond Primary School for kindergarten and first grade before moving to Washington Street Elementary School in second grade. And I haven’t missed a day since.
“It’s a special feeling,” she continued. “A lot of people as me why I’ve done this and my answer is that I just enjoy school. I come every day that I can.”
College Aspirations: As noted earlier, Parrish hopes to pursue a career in the medical field as either a nurse or physician’s assistant. While she’s still ironing out the details of her major course of study and whether or not she’d like to minor in biology or chemistry, Parrish does have one big decision already made. And that’s to attend Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina.
Better yet, she’s committed to play softball for head coach Monte Sherrill and the Lady Falcons, who went 37-5 in 2018 and won the ECAC Division III Championship.
“I committed to play for Pfeiffer in November of last year,” Parrish explained. “I went to a softball camp there a couple of years ago and Coach Sherrill was interested in me. He said I had ‘good spin’ on my pitches, and I’m going there as a pitcher and a hitter.
“I’m very excited,” she said of her future collegiate career. “This is a new step for me. I’ll be going away from home and will be on my own for the first time. Hopefully I can time manage myself, but I know a lot of people going there, so that will help.”
Mentors: For her mentors, Parrish chose her parents Steve and Michelle Parrish.
“Both of my parents have always pushed me to be the very best I can be,” the junior said. “They’ve supported me in all of the decisions I’ve made, and have been to every travel ball and high school game I’ve played. They push me to my limits, and help me be the best person I can be on and off the field.”
Athlete of the Week Stats: As Richmond’s primary designated player, Parrish’s role is similar to that of a designated hitter in baseball. She most often batted in the sixth spot in the lineup and didn’t play the field unless she was called upon by Wallace late in games. At season’s close, Parrish had played in all 29 of the Lady Raiders’ games, batting .378 with 34 hits and a team third-best 36 RBIs. She also belted seven doubles and four home runs, with her final dinger being the most exciting.
During last Thursday’s game two of the Western Regional Finals against No. 2 South Caldwell High School, the Lady Raiders found themselves trailing by a game and 3-0 in the current contest. The inning before, starting Lady Spartans pitcher Anna King had hit a three-run shot to give her team the lead, but Parrish would flip the score when she dug in with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the third inning.
Fellow teammates Savannah Lampley, Owen Bowers and Greyson Way stood on first, second and third base, respectively, when Parrish demolished the first King offering and sent it blistering into the South Caldwell student section in left field. It was her first career grand slam, and gave Richmond a 4-3 edge. And despite the Lady Spartans overcoming a late-game deficit to win and advance to the 4A state championship, Parrish’s dinger was impressive nonetheless.
Describe the moment when you stepped into the box and hit the grand slam against South Caldwell. What were your intentions during that at-bat?
“I knew going into that at-bat that Coach Wallace had mentioned we had left some base runners on during game one,” Parrish said. “I wanted to do what I could to help my team. There were two outs when I got up, and I knew that if I hit the ball, I was either going to get out or score somebody.
“The ball ended up going over the fence,” Parrish added. “I didn’t expect it. I’d never hit a grand slam before. I just wanted to help my team out as much as possible.”
Now that you can reflect on your junior season, what stands out to you the most about it?
“I think my favorite part was growing as a player,” Parrish noted. “I worked hard all season to prepare. And it’s so rewarding to see that work pay off. I also enjoyed getting closer and getting to know the girls better. And winning was fun. We had a winning season which is great.”
Coach’s Corner: Wallace, who has spoken highly of Parrish’s production throughout the season, highlighted her clutch performances like the one in game two of the Western Regional Finals.
“Taylor has been a consistent spot in our lineup all year,” Wallace noted. “She had several key at-bats leading off an inning to get things going, or seemed to always be at the plate with two outs and runners in scoring position.
“She has worked hard to improve her hitting,” Wallace concluded. “She had the fewest amount of strikeouts out of our starting lineup (this season).”
