Senior
Renee Fagg chooses collegiate softball close to home
BY KENNY BRISTOW
Wave Sports Writer
The temperature in Wasatch County may be in the 20’s and the
grounds surrounding the high school may still be covered with snow, but that
hasn’t stopped some from thinking ahead towards their spring sport. On Monday afternoon, in front of her
coaches, teammates, family and friends, Wasatch High School senior student
athlete Renee Fagg signed a national letter of intent to attend classes and
play softball for Snow College in Ephriam, Utah.
Still in the midst of an outstanding basketball season,
Renee, was happy to commit and get her near future on paper as she prepares for
what she hopes to be a deep run in the girl’s 3A basketball playoffs. Although her love for her basketball
team is very strong, her passion for competing is on the softball field where
she excels as both a catcher and a top hitter.
“It’s scary to throw batting practice to her,” said Wasatch
head softball coach, Gary Roberts.
“I’d much rather watch her in a game,” he added laughing. “But it’s really her amazing play
behind the plate that’s so impressive,” said her coach. “In the four years I’ve had her here,
she’s just gotten better and better.
I look forward to watching how she leads our team this year as a senior.”
Renee was the only starting junior on the Wasatch softball
team last year and was a catalyst on a team that was a threat to win every time
they took the diamond. Then during
the summer season, playing for her assistant coach at Wasatch, Clint Kelson, Renee started to hit her stride. Kelson recognized that Renee’s throwing and hitting had
reached college level potential and he recommended she play for a fall ball
team out of St. George. "She's got a cannon for an arm... and I've seen a few," said Kelson. "I knew once a college coach saw her throw somebody out at second from her knees, the phone would start ringing," added her coach. Renee had
an excellent fall season and caught the attention of the Snow College softball
coaching staff. They’ve had their
eye on her ever since.
 |
| Senior Renee Fagg, second from right, signs her national letter of intent in the presence of (seated left to right) Mother Amy Fagg, Coach Clint Kelson, Father John Fagg and Wasatch head softball coach Gary Roberts. |
“I’m really excited to go to Snow,” the senior said. “It’s a relief to just be able to play
this year and have some fun and not worry about stats and schools coming to
watch you play,” she added. Renee,
who others describe as shy, seems at ease talking about her athletic
endeavors. “Sports has always been
my confidence,” said the girl who’s played volleyball, tennis and pitched in
boys Little League until the sixth grade.
“It’s my way of fitting in and being good at something.”
Renee’s parents, John and Amy Fagg, are pleased she will be
attending school so close to home, saying they will go to as many games as
possible. “We never put much
thought into it (Renee playing sports in college) until her junior year,” said
her mother, Amy. “She’s always
been a very good student and a little on the shy side, so we hadn’t even thought
about her playing sports in college until she started getting attention from
other coaches,” she added. Her
father, John, said he was caught “off guard” by all the attention. “We had no idea really, how to go about
the recruiting process. We
sent her to camps just to see how she would do, and she was like one of the
best out there,” he said with a proud smile. “We’re just so excited to see her achieve something like
this. It’s really awesome.”
Now that she’s made her commitment, Renee will concentrate
on the basketball playoffs. “I
haven’t really turned my attention to softball yet,” Renee said. “Coach Perkins has us working really
hard at staying focused on our season and trying to win a championship, so I
want to respect that,” she added.
Asked if she had entertained any thoughts of being a three-sport star in
college like she is at Wasatch and the senior smiled, rolled her eyes and said,
“I don’t think so.” That may have
been her response on the outside, but you could see her mind thinking that she
knows she probably could.
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