By Chris LaClair
EAGLE TIMES SPORTS EDITOR
A Newport native is being scouted by softball representatives of such prestigious colleges as Georgia, Tennessee and Duke.
Zoey Lord, who only turned 15 in June, is ranked 10th overall in the entire nation for her age group by Legacy and Legends and 77th overall by Extra Innings. Both Legacy and Legends and Extra Innings are national softball ranking websites.
Zoey is the daughter of Anthony and Katie Lord of Newport.
Some of her accolades include 2021 USA Softball All-American, Softball Factory All-American and Youth Softball Elite All-American. She has earned these honors for her prowess in fastpitch softball.
She is headed into her sophomore year at Proctor Academy, Andover, NH.
She throws a 67-mph pitch. That translates to a 97-mph pitch in baseball. With 43 feet from the pitcher’s mound to the plate, a batter only has .43 seconds to react to her pitch. When a bat does connect with her pitch, it travels at 80 mph.
Zoey plays for the fourth nationally ranked U14 softball club, The Lady Dukes, out of New Jersey. Her club team finished its season going 61-23-7 against the best teams in the country while finishing in the top 8 in 6 out of the 7 tournaments they played in. At the end of the tournament season, she accumulated a massive 143 strikeouts in only 90 total innings pitched.
“I dream of playing for a Power 5 school and currently gaining interest,” Zoey said. “I am hoping to get enough scholarship money to pay for five years of college so I can go onto school to be an ER Physician after my softball career is finished.”
Zoey said she hopes to land an offer from a Power 5 School (which are the top five conferences for college sports; the Big 12, PAC 12, Big 10, ACC and SEC) on Sept. 1 of her junior year in high school when these colleges can officially make their offer.
Zoey’s mother, Katie, cherishes the opportunity to watch her daughter play softball on a national level.
“To get front row seats every weekend to watch her and her teammates do what they love,” Katie said.
There is a level of commitment and dedication that an elite athletes’ parents must possess, she said.
“Between her being a day student at a prep school and being gone all summer, it can be exhausting,” Katie said. “She goes six days a week to Proctor Academy, most days from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.”
“She has traveled to seven states across the country this summer,” Katie said. “It’s a grueling schedule but we wouldn’t change any of it for the world; it’s worth it to watch her live her dream!”
Zoey’s next stop is camp at the University of Central Florida on Aug. 31 and Sept. 2.
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