Ella Parker, Oklahoma softball share team-first mentality
LOS ANGELES (BVM) – Ella Parker is a team player first and foremost. The Oklahoma softball commit lives for supporting her friends both on and off the diamond. It’s the reason she plays, it’s the reason she works so hard and it’s why she loves the sport of softball.
“I love it being a team sport,” Parker said. “I love my teammates and I think the thing that really pushes me is just to be better for my teammates.”
The Notre Dame High School softball team preaches being a team captain over being an MVP. Each girl is asked to be a leader rather than focus on individual achievements that may not lead to team success. Parker takes it to heart, leading by example, helping her teammates every chance she gets but she is still getting a lot of accolades as she does it.
Last season, the Sooners commit was All-CIF and made the Cal-Hi all-state Team. Parker posted an absolutely incredible .651 batting average with a 1.700 OPS, 11 home runs, 31 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.
“I have a lot of kids playing college now who I’ve coached through the years and this really is special,” Notre Dame softball coach Justin Siegel said about Parker.
Siegel is in his first year as head coach of the Knights but has known Parker for a long time. His daughter played softball with Parker’s older sister, Mia. The two girls are now playing Division I baseball with Mia playing at George Washington University, but while they were training to reach DI softball, Ella was always there.
The former Division I and minor league pitcher turned softball coach has countless memories of Ella training with the older girls. It was a group that talked about where they were going to train the next day rather than if they were going to train. Ella in particular is always ready to put a little more work in before or after practice. Seigel even recalls Ella’s father telling him a story six years ago about how when he opens that first eye in the morning, there’s 12-year-old Ella with a glove in hand, ready and waiting to go hit.
“There’s a thirst and a hunger inside,” Siegel said about Ella.
“She looked the part from when she was younger and you match that up with a genuine love and desire for this game, it’s a really unique thing.”
Ella has always had the size, power and athleticism to be great at softball. She commands respect out on the field and in the batter’s box. It’s one of the things that has led to pitchers being so intimidated by her. Seeing Ella walk up to the batter’s box, knowing she basically has a 60% chance of hitting anything thrown her way, is bad enough. Then there’s the stare.
“It was very subconscious,” Ella said about her stare. “I did not notice I did that. I think it was 12u or 14u and my teammate was friends with the pitcher and I think after the game she told my friend she was so intimidated by me because I looked at her eyes before I stepped in the box…I just kept with it.”
Her stare has been around almost as long as her love for the sport. Ella grew up in an athletic family and, along with her sister, her uncle is Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. They, along with the rest of her family, help each other. They just naturally want to talk about the game, what happened during at bats, what was the thought process behind decisions and how to handle different experiences. Having her sister as someone she could look up to led Ella down a path to becoming an Oklahoma softball commit.
“I grew up following in the footsteps of my older sister, she started playing softball and me being four, five years younger than her I just wanted to be like her,” Ella said. “I think that’s where my passion really took off.”
From that passion for the game soon developed a love for the game as well. Her sister was the first of many girls Ella would meet that helped push her to be the player she is today. They were the ones that would train with her everyday, that had the same dream as her. Playing with them is how she fell in love with not only softball, but being a team player.
“When I went to travel ball when I was like 10, 11 is when I really fell in love with the game and understood that I could be playing with future all-americans and future hall of famers,” Ella said. “I really grew to love the sport after meeting girls that had goals like mine.”
Those goals were playing Division I softball and eventually playing in the Olympics. One of those girls that had those same goals was her future Oklahoma teammate Jocelyn Erickson. The two played softball together growing up. Ella credits Erickson with helping her develop her team-first mentality and desire to be the best teammate possible.
“She is a team player and I think that’s what I really looked up to,” Ella said.
Having two of them in Oklahoma next year is something Sooners fans should be excited about. Ella will be a great addition to an already stellar Sooners softball team. She’s excited to be joining a team filled with talent both on and off the field. Ella knows that being there will make her a better player and woman, it’s why she chose Oklahoma. But before that, Ella has her senior season with Notre Dame. With her playing like a captain rather than an MVP, the Knights and the Sooners next year are set up for success.
