Earning It: Foster's Lechler Working For Greatness

WHENEVER SHE’S HOME TAKING HACKS TO GET HER TIMING RIGHT OR PEPPERING VOLLEYBALLS TO TIGHTEN BALL CONTROL, FOSTER JUNIOR BAILEY LECHLER WORKS AROUND A QUOTE ENGRAVED INTO THE CONCRETE ON THE FARTHEST END OF HER DRIVEWAY – “OWED NOTHING, EARNED EVERYTHING.”

“It just reminds me that nobody owes me anything,” said Lechler, a two-sport standout for the Falcons as a defensive specialist on the volleyball team and an infielder for the softball team. “If I want to be great, I have to go and get it myself.”

When concrete was being put down on the pavement five years ago, Lechler wrote in the quote as a permanent reminder.

“I had come out of a tough softball season and realized that I needed to be working harder than what I was working then if I wanted to do anything with it,” she said. “It paid off.”

Lechler is entering her first full season on varsity with the Falcons’ volleyball team. She was pulled up to the varsity from the JV for the playoffs last winter.

In the spring, she was key in the softball team’s inspiring run to the Regional Quarterfinals.

Softball has always been Lechler’s first love. She wants to play in college. But when her mom Erin, who played volleyball at Texas A&M, put her in summer camps when she was seven years old, Lechler found beneficial similarities between the diamond and the court.

“I like that you have to have a good work ethic to be good in softball,” she said. “I like that nothing is handed to you. If you want to earn something, you have to do it yourself. Volleyball is very similar to that, and I also like that it’s constantly moving. It’s a quick-paced game. I really enjoy that.”

Lechler said the different workouts and motions for each sport complement one another.

A softball swing, for instance, helps her swing in volleyball because strength is derived from the same area. The quick reactions that volleyball demands are like what is needed as a first baseman in softball.

“Volleyball is a lot freer and fun for me,” Lechler said. “Softball, I take super seriously. I don’t let up for volleyball, but I still enjoy it.”

Lechler enjoys the process. The journey. It’s the work that attracts her.

She plays for a club volleyball team and select softball team in the summer and barely has time for her favorite hobbies, photography and reading.

“The work ethic pulls me,” Lechler said. “What keeps me going is the little-by little success I see in my progression. I don’t need to be perfect. But if I see progress, I know what I’m doing is working.”

Foster’s volleyball team graduated eight seniors from last season. Lechler said she feels she’s being put into position to assume a heavy leadership role, which she is excited about.

“In practices, I lead by example,” she said. “I like to get the job done, when it needs to be done, how it needs to be done. I don’t take a rep off. On the court, I’m learning to be more vocal because the game is so emotional and up and down.

“My approach is if you go all out every time, nothing could go wrong. If I’m always diving for a ball, I’m going to get it eventually. If you beat me once, I’m going to keep coming at you. I’m going to get you eventually.”