Story 4

Ashley Zimmel, the Irish softball star

Trevor Walstrom

           

            Ashley Zimmel may have been born in Ireland, but don’t assume that soccer is her favorite sport.

            “My foster dad told me all of these great stories of sport legends from all over the globe, and he told me that I was made to be an athlete, and in Ireland, softball and soccer are the only sports you can play at a young age, I hate soccer, so I went with softball.” That is how Ashley Zimmel would start her journey in the sport which she loves.

            While she has played many other sports in her promising, young career, including tennis, football, basketball, volleyball, and lacrosse, her true passion remains to be softball. Ashley has been playing softball for much of her life including two years for the Dublin Sparks, a total of eight years between the Coon Rapids youth, and high-school programs, and two years for the Anoka-Ramsey Community College team.

            Ashley is mostly an infielder, but hitting is her bread and butter. “I currently hold the record for most home-runs hit for Coon Rapids High-School, at 21.” Ashley’s greatest moment on the field was belting a walk-off home-run to win the 18-and-under U.S.A. Championship for her team.

            Ashley is currently a resident of Coon Rapids, and a student at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, but she plans to transfer to the University of Minnesota-Morris in Bemidji to complete her degree in Sports Management. There she plans to continue her studies as well as her softball career. Softball is certainly an instrumental aspect of Ashley’s life, “It really makes me understand that grades count. Don’t compete in the class, won’t compete on the field.” That is the motto of a young woman whose passion for the game of softball will certainly translate into many positive things in her future.