Macie Payne, of Pymatuning Valley, recently signed her letter of intent to attend Lake Erie College. Payne will be attending Lake Erie College on an Academic and Athletic Scholarship for softball.
Payne currently has a 3.72 GPA and is taking college courses at Kent State to get ahead in her senior year.
Payne is a two sport athlete in both soccer and softball. She has played softball for the past 11 years.
Some of the teams she has participated on include: Pymatuning Valley Lakers softball, Aftershock, Crew, Willoughby Starzz, Ohio Varsity Vipers, and Fire Fastpitch.
Some of her high school stats include: a .355 batting average, 32 singles, 10 doubles, 4 triples and three homeruns and 38 runs batted in. Payne also has four travel ball homeruns and has exceled on the defensive side of the game as well.
The dream of playing college softball has been a goal for Payne, ever since she was a little kid.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I could continue to play at the next level,” Payne said on reaching her goal.
The current goal for Payne now is just to continue to work on being a better teammate, leader, hitter, and fielder.
Payne would like to thank several people who have supported her in her academic and sports journey including:
Andrew Gray (PV High School Coach) and Travel Coach Fire Fastpitch (Andrew Harvey) -My high school coach and travel coach have guided me with instruction on both hitting and fielding. Challenging me to focus and make corrections when necessary.
Terry Hejduk (Hitting Coach) – My hitting coach for taking on the challenge to fix my swing which wasn’t an easy task. He has so many tools and methods in the VELO Barn (Training Facility) to help perfect my swing. He has patience and has instilled a lot of confidence in me.
Tim Leonard (Guidance and Private Lessons) – My grandfather has guided me on how focus mentally on the field and made sure I got to my private lessons.
Mom (Tara Leonard) Dad (Christian Payne) and sister (Saige Payne)-They have always been there to support me through the years. I have been inspired to live up to their accomplishments as well. My mom playing at Mercyhurst University (DII) softball and my dad being inducted to the Ashtabula County Football Hall of Fame. My sister was an inspiration as I got to catch for her, and she earned a DII scholarship as well at both Notre Dame College (recently closed) and Point Park University.
Grandparents (Bob and Edwina Payne) (Sharon Leonard) – They have been my biggest fans and made sure I always had rides and food in between games.
