Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
DeKalb County senior Jacey Hatfield took the next step in her athletic career on Thursday, as she signed her national letter of intent to play softball at Cumberland University.
For Hatfield, it’s the culmination of all the hard work she’s put in over the last four seasons in Smithville.
“I think I’ve put in so much work,” Hatfield said. “At times, I thought it might have been too much, but to see this rewarded with signing to Cumberland, it’s awesome.”
When talking about the recruiting process, Hatfield says she was a little worried at first because of how Covid-19 led to collegiate athletes gaining another year of eligibility, meaning her class might get overlooked.
Despite that, she says she fell in love with the school once she began looking at Cumberland.
“It was kind of complicated, especially because of Covid, because it gave their seniors another year to play, so they didn’t really need us,” Hatfield said. “It was really hard (at first), but I went and I practiced at Cumberland and I loved it there…when I went to the campus, I knew I loved it there.”
And for head coach Danny Fish, he thinks the fit between Hatfield and Cumberland will be seamless.
“She’s a great student-athlete, and she’s our salutatorian here,” Fish said. “She’s going to fit in fine…we’ve sent quite a few players over there and they come and recruit our kids because they know they’re hard workers and good students. I think she’ll walk right in there and because of her work ethic and ability, I think it’ll be a good fit both ways.”
Hatfield also says she is looking forward to getting through her schooling and taking the next step in her life.
“I know I want to be a pediatric nurse, so I’m excited to get my schooling over with,” Hatfield said. “I didn’t want to put my life on hold because of softball, I’m just excited to get this jump-start on my life.”
