FOLLOWING GEORGE RANCH SOFTBALL’S IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE LAST SEASON, IN WHICH THEY FINISHED SECOND IN THE DISTRICT EN ROUTE TO AN APPEARANCE IN THE UIL 6A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS, THE LONGHORNS ARE RETURNING TO THE DIAMOND TO PUSH THEIR PROGRAM FURTHER INTO THE PLAYOFF RACE.
Senior catcher Mariah Garner led the team in RBIs last year and looks to build upon her team’s success, as she energizes the surge for George Ranch’s new campaign.
“I’m a natural-born leader,” said Garner. “I carry myself a certain way. Me being not necessarily cocky, but confident in myself makes my game better. I think that rubs off on my team. If I’m not having a good day, neither is the team. So, when I realized that, I thought ‘OK, I have to get it together. No bad days’. When I step on the diamond, all the insecurities go away.”
To make it to the next level as an athlete, an individual must be able to work well with others. However, one must possess a significant amount of self-confidence to inspire themselves – a trait Garner does not lack.
“The main answer (people give as their main motivation) that everyone tends to say is their mom or dad,” she said. “But, in all reality, it’s me. I just feel like if I don’t do it, who’s going to do it? If I don’t break the generational curse of not going to college, who’s going to do it? So, ‘Why Not Me?’ That’s always been my saying.”
That confidence will be invaluable for the Longhorns.
“When it comes to me being a leader and the catcher of the team, I’m definitely a ‘hard-ass’ in regards to softball, because I know how locked in we should be and what we accomplish when we are,” she said. “I guess I’m in the middle because sometimes I like to have fun and goof around, but when it’s game time we’ve got to take care of business.”
The senior Longhorn’s accolades and skills have ‘garnered’ her the chance to play for Florida Memorial University in Miami. Furthermore, Garner also has a passion for sports medicine and photography. She has been published by The Wrangler – the George Ranch student newspaper, and VYPE Magazine.
“I like to catch people in motion with quality pictures that I’d like photographers to take of me,” she said. “I know I don’t really have the option for people to take certain pictures of me, so I like to do it for others so they can feel how I’d want to feel. Eventually, I want to be a sports broadcaster. Whether I’m in front of or behind the camera, is still to be determined.”
For now, she will continue to make news at George Ranch in front of the camera behind the plate.