Buckland’s Skyler Steele made a significant impact at the 12U Cal Ripken state baseball tournament in Northbridge over the weekend.
Against an unbeaten Hudson team, Steele tossed a complete game and hit a pair of home runs to lead the Mohawk Warriors to victory. Her performance earned her a spot in the tournament’s home run derby.
Competing amongst a 25-person field, Steele — who just turned 12 and was the lone girl in the competition — smacked four of her 10 swings over the fence to tie for first with two others and punch a ticket into the finals.
Though she didn’t end up winning the competition, she won over the support of the crowd and her competitors with her head-turning performance.
“I felt very confident and I was feeling great that day,” Steele said. “Everything was going smooth. It was very fun to compete in. I thought I was only going to get one home run but I actually got four.”
Though Steele might have surprised herself in the derby, her coaches weren’t the least bit shocked she was in the mix to win it.
“She’s a stud,” Mohawk 12U coach Ryan Hicks said. “She has been all year. We joke all the time that she’s a man amongst boys even though she’s a girl. To have a girl in the home run derby against all the 6-foot-2 boys and watch her tie for the win before going to overtime was incredible. She missed winning by 2 feet, she had one in the finals that was only a few feet away from going over the fence.”
Growing up, Steele was a fixture watching her older sister Summer’s baseball games. Separated by just 19 months, their mother, Amanda Steele, remembers Skyler begging to get out and play. She had to wait her turn, Amanda had to tell her, until she was old enough.
In 2016, the Steele family’s world turned upside down. Summer, just 9 years old, was killed in an accident involving a school bus right outside of her house. Skyler, 7 years old at the time, was witness to the tragedy.
Coping with the loss hasn’t been easy. Skyler has used sports as an outlet, and baseball has been a constant in her life — her time on the diamond a way to take her mind off everything else.
“Sports have saved her life,” Amanda said. “It has been a savior. She puts everything into sports to get her mind off of things. She works really hard, she has good ability and it’s really helped her through a hard time.”
Her love of the game is infectious to all those around her. When her Mohawk teammates see how much she appreciates being out on the field, the energy spreads.
“She’s one of those kids that always has a smile on her face,” Hicks said. “She’s a delight to coach. It doesn’t matter where we play her. She’s an incredible third baseman but we needed her in center for part of the season and she went out there with a smile and made all the catches.”
Baseball isn’t the only sport Skyler plays, as she also competes on the softball diamond, the basketball court and the soccer field.
Her favorite part about baseball, though?
“Probably just the enthusiasm that everyone gives off,” Skyler explained. “It’s a really good sport to play with everyone feeling for you. It’s back and forth and you have to battle and support your teammates. I love the competitiveness between everybody. I’m going to have confidence for this and that. It’s a really good sport to play and a good feeling. I just love playing sports, staying active and staying in good shape.”
Her performance last weekend provided quite an exclamation mark on an impressive season, and her power in the home run derby certainly drew the attention of those in attendance.
“It was amazing watching Skyler compete in this tournament and the home run derby skills competition,” offered Rich Paulhus, commissioner of this year’s Cal Ripken state tournament. “She had one of the most pure swings I had seen out of all the players in that tournament. I coached college softball for 20 years and I would have started to recruit her right there and then.”
Steele said she’s now hoping that she can build off the tournament and continue to improve. While she was praised for her performance, she was ultimately more focused on how her team fared.
“I got a lot of confidence from this,” Steele said. “I’m not worried about how many home runs I hit, I just want to do what I can to help our team win as many games as we can.”
Steele will attend Mohawk Trail Regional next year. With her passion and work ethic, expect to see her name in the box scores sooner rather than later.