Alabama Softball Freshman Q&A: Gabby Callaway
1/18/2017 12:45:00 PM | Softball
Rolltide.com will be posting Q&As for each of the four freshman on this year's Alabama softball team so the fans can get to know the newest members of our Crimson Tide family heading into the 2017 season. The second Q&A is with Gabby Callaway, an outfielder who was born and raised in Mobile but moved to San Diego for high school and played on the very competitive west coast club circuit with OC Batbusters.
How did you get your start playing softball?
"I have three older sisters and they all played. I tried out some other sports when I was little but it was pretty much always softball. My sister Laura played at UAB and I really wanted to be like her. Before I started being recruited, she was already playing in college and that's when I knew I wanted to try and play in college too."
When did softball move from a hobby to a more serious pursuit?
"I was playing travel softball before eighth grade but it was at that point I started going to exposure camps where coaches are watching. The summer after my eighth-grade year when I was still living in Alabama, I moved to California to play there over the summer so that was my first big push to get recruited."
When did it hit you that you could possibly continue to play in college?
"It was probably nationals leading up to my freshman year. There were a lot of coaches there and I was playing well and it seemed like more of a reality."
You grew up in Mobile but moved to San Diego during high school. What was that move like?
"I was born and raised in Mobile until right before my sophomore year. The summers after my eighth and ninth grade years I was playing in California but then moved there after that. My first summer there I was so focused on softball I didn't see a lot of the cultural differences. Even the game of softball is played a lot differently out there. I was maybe a little bit sheltered but once I moved out there for high school I started to really see a lot of the differences."
Was it intimidating to play in a very competitive softball environment like California?
"The first time I played in California was at an exposure camp because they needed more out-of-town girls. I was super nervous for that camp but the team that I ended up playing on had great chemistry so I always felt like I fit in. It was a good team for my level. I played well but it pushed me to grow too."
Do you consider yourself a Californian or Alabamian now?
"I'm a mix for sure. California feels like home to me. The high school was a better fit for me being a bigger school. I kind of found my place easier than I did in Mobile. All my friends are in San Diego so it feels like home. That age is a very developmental stage so you're still trying to figure out who you are. When people ask where I'm from, I normally say both but San Diego feels like home."
What was your recruiting process like and what schools were you looking at?
"Alabama, Arizona, Tennessee and South Carolina were the main ones at the end. South Carolina was the closest thing to Alabama as far as the family atmosphere. Arizona just had that draw since my family was always into softball so when my dad was learning about the sport, they were the team to beat.
"Alabama was a lot different than the others though. I never felt nervous talking to the coaches. They would ask a little about my games but they never put any pressure on me to play better as a freshman. They just wanted to know more about me as a person and my family. I felt the same thing from the girls on the team."
What was your first visit to campus like?
"It was October of my freshman year and I committed in April. Everyone was a lot more high-energy than I was used to. Maybe that's just part of living in California. I really liked how excited they were, I was pretty taken aback honestly."
What was the reaction when you committed?
"I was still living in Mobile and they had a midweek game so I just drove up and told them. Their reaction was so great! The whole team came out and game me a hug. It was so crazy! They had just won a national championship the year before and they were such good players. It was an awesome feeling."
Was it a relief to commit relatively early in the recruiting process?
"I think because my process happened so early, I wasn't feeling a lot of pressure to commit. In a way, I almost felt some pressure from myself knowing I had to be good enough to play at Alabama. I had good coaches around me and that pressure was all internal, it wasn't coming from them or the Alabama coaches. Moving to California, I was surrounded by a lot of players who were committed to big Division-I teams so it didn't turn into this big thing that I was going to Alabama."
What have been your first impressions of college life as a student-athlete so far?
"I challenged myself in high school academically so that transition hasn't been too hard. You end up using a lot of energy towards softball so you can't stay up late and study. You have to learn to study at different times during the day. In high school, you usually just study at night since you can stay up late and there's no commitments in the morning. You can't do that in college with 6 a.m. weights.
"Playing on a travel team where a lot of players go on to college, you hear warnings that the coaches aren't the same as when you're being recruited. They tell you to be ready for that. I feel our coaches aren't just the same, they're even better once you get here! It's been even better than it was when I was being recruited. I've felt really lucky so far. There have been some tough parts being away from your family but I feel like it's been a good transition."
What was it like to play in your first game at Rhoads Stadium this past fall?
"It was surreal in the first game and it was still that way in the last game. Maybe it was because I committed so early, but I feel like that moment had been so long in the making that it's crazy that I'm finally here and it's a reality. You make it so much bigger in your head leading up to it."
Looking ahead to the season, what are some of your goals?
"Individually, I just want to have a solid mentality throughout the season. I don't want to focus negatively on concrete stats like batting average or something like that. Even though the fall season was short, I felt like I learned so much and felt myself getting better every day so I just want to continue that. I want to learn as much as I can, especially on the mental side of hitting. For the team, our goals are always big. We want to win the SEC and a national championship. The team chemistry is already so great so I know we're going to have fun."
