By T. Scott Boatright
CHOUDRANT — Earning a college athletic scholarship to continue playing the sport you love is considered a dream come true.
Signing that scholarship to join the team you’ve dreamed of being part of for years is a dream doubly-realized.
That’s the case for Choudrant high school senior catcher Zoey Smith after she signed on Wednesday to continue her softball career at LSU-Eunice.
“I’ve been playing softball since I was 6 years old and I always dreamed of playing at the collegiate level,” Smith said. “LSU-E was one of my top three colleges (I wanted) to go to and since I started being recruited I wanted to go to LSU-E to experience the life that they have down there, so I couldn’t be more happy about that.”
In Smith, LSU-E will be getting a player who has already been named All-State four times, since she was in eighth grade.
Last season, Smith earned her fourth All-State team honor after batting .531 with 11 home runs, 11 doubles and 54 runs batted in as a junior.
In heading to LSU-E, Smith follows in the direct footsteps of former Lady Aggies Olivia Hennen, another multi-time All-State selection from Choudrant who went on to become the first LSU-E catcher to receive first-team All-American honors.
“I never did get to go watch her play at LSU-E but I have talked to her about what her experiences were there and I always heard her talk so positively about it, and other people talking about her experience there, too, and what a good environment for her to be in and that she learned so much playing there,” Smith said of following Hennen’s path to Eunice.
“She was definitely one of my impacts in making the decision.”
And because she grew up watching Hennen play catcher at Choudrant, Smith said LSU-E has always been on her radar since she began playing high school softball as an eighth-grader.
“I knew about LSU-E my whole childhood career,” Smith said. “And then at the beginning of my junior year (LSU-E coach Meghan) Collins had me come visit the campus and all of that kind of stuff, and I fell in love with the campus and what it looked like and the environment and how welcoming it was for me.
“It made me really excited to be able to go there.”
“I’ve had the opportunity of coaching Zoey for three years,” said current Choudrant softball coach Stacy Tassin. “She is a phenomenal athlete, she’s a wonderful teammate and works very, very hard. She always picks her teammates up. She is kind of like my mini-coach. If I don’t see something, Zoey points it out and asks, ‘Hey, did you see this? We need to do this.’ She’s also very encouraging and has been a pleasure to coach these past three years.
“I’m excited to see her go to LSU-E. I get to go back now because I used to go watch Olivia, my niece, play and I’m so proud of Zoey and thrilled to see her get this opportunity.”
Smith said she begins to study kinesiology as she moves on to her college years.
“I want to come back home after college and go to PT (physical therapy) school,” Smith said.
