Keiara Watkins, senior, says she made her most memorable play of her high school career during a Sept. 11 game at Parkway North. She caught a fly ball in centerfield and threw a runner out at home trying to score for a double play.

Watkins has played softball for six years, and is now the starting center fielder for the varsity softball team. She views the position as a chance to take charge in the outfield, as she demonstrated when throwing out the Parkway North Viking runner.

“It takes a lot of will power and leadership to play centerfield,” Watkins said. “If you don’t take the initiative to call someone off, it’s bad communication.”

Watkins says she enjoys playing defense more than offense because it is a fun opportunity to show off her skills. She has done this while not committing an error in the past week.

Although she has proven to be a defensive asset, Watkins has also performed while batting. To go along with her defense, Watkins has gone five for nine (.556 batting average) in the past week while scoring five runs and using her speed to steal five bases. As of Sept. 20, Watkins leads the Pioneers with a .444 batting average. She is also the team leader in hits (24), runs (19) and stolen bases (12). Watkins has not been thrown out stealing all season long.

Watkins is striving to play college softball. She is looking at five schools, her number one choice being the University of California, Berkeley.

While the varsity Pioneers have a 4-11 record as of Sept. 20, Watkins believes the team can still turn it around.

“Our season should go pretty well because we have great defense this year and we have a lot more aggressive hitters to hit the ball now,” Watkins said.