“Softball was my first love,” Freeman said. “I just fell in love with volleyball and I knew I wanted to pursue that as my collegiate option, but as soon as I committed to Kennesaw I knew I wanted to get back on the diamond. I wanted to make it work, made some phone calls, texted some people and I just put my mind to it and I was going to do whatever I had to do to get back on the diamond.”
In a game against Oak Ridge on April 11, Freeman would cement her legacy at Anderson County on the diamond. During the contest, Freeman hit a triple, then a double, then a home run and finished with a single to secure a cycle, the first ever in Anderson County softball history.
“I wasn’t thinking anything about it because honestly I never heard of a cycle until our assistant coach mentioned it before my last at-bat,” Freeman said. “He was like, ‘Hey listen, all we need is a single and you’ll get your cycle,’ so that put some pressure on me…Luckily I poked one up the middle and got on first base. I let out a little squeal, I was pretty excited.”
Impressive in its own right, Freeman’s accomplishment becomes even more so when people are reminded that she didn’t play softball for the past two calendar years. Despite the many months away from the game, Freeman has caught back on like a fish to water as she has once again established herself as one of the top players for the 9-8-1 Lady Mavs.
“From day one it looked like she hadn’t missed a beat softball-wise,” Anderson County head softball coach Allen Russell said. “She’s hitting everywhere from leadoff to four-hole hitter. She’s currently leading the team in batting average, leading the team in home runs, anything I need her to do, she can do it.”
While Freeman is well aware that this softball season is more of a lap around the bases of her high school athletics career, the fact that she is able to have so much success years after dropping the game has come as a surprise to even herself and leaves the question of “what if?”
“There’s not a doubt in my mind that she could’ve been a Division I softball player if she stuck to it,” Russell said. “I kid her all the time that I’m going to call down to Kennesaw State and tell them they have a softball player coming too so she not only can play volleyball but softball in the spring. She’s that good of an athlete.”
Though no matter what happens for the Lady Mavs and Freeman this season, she is confident with her collegiate decision to join Kennesaw State on the volleyball court.
“I feel like I maybe could’ve made it work, but then I don’t know how big of a volleyball scholarship I would’ve been able to get,” Freeman said. “I’m glad I decided to focus on volleyball and I think I made the right decision. I’m so ecstatic and excited.”
For the Owls, they are receiving one of the top players the state of Tennessee has to offer.
At 5-foot-6, Freeman excels for the Lady Mavs volleyball team as a libero. Freeman was excellent during her senior season as well, recording a career high 569 digs and 78 assists over 110 sets. An all around player despite her defensive focus, Freeman also had 238 serving points and 46 service aces on 411 total serves, good for an ace percentage of 11.2%.
Freeman once again led the Lady Mavs to the Tennessee Secondary Schools Class AA state volleyball tournament where the team would fall in the semifinals to eventual champion Hume-Fogg three sets to one. Freeman was later recognized for her strong senior season performance, being named Class AA all-state libero by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.
“We had a super successful year my senior year,” Freeman said. “We finished fourth which was pretty awesome considering we lost five starting seniors. I’m really happy with the way our season ended. I was the first defensive player in school history to be a two-time all-stater so that really helped me out. I felt pretty confident after that and we finished with a good record so I’m pretty happy how our season ended.”
The future college volleyball player doesn’t have to look far for help in adjusting to the next level. Leah’s older sister, Hannah, plays collegiately at Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tennessee as a setter. With a similar background in the game, Hannah should be able to share her experience with her younger sister to help her in the transition to Kennesaw.
“She’s just been telling me to get really close to your team, have good relationships, but also push yourself individually,” Leah said. “Don’t rely on your team to push you, push yourself and be confident in yourself. She’s really helped me out a lot.”
With her college decision made and her sport chosen, Leah will have no problem taking in her final softball season with the Lady Mavs. While some of the possibilities she could have achieved if she stuck to softball will undoubtedly come up, Leah is just focused on having fun and helping her team win this season before hanging up the cleats once again, this time for good.
“I feel like we have a really good chance to go a long way, which the softball program hasn’t made it out of districts in a while,” Freeman said. “I’m pretty confident that we’ll make it out of districts, hopefully kick some butt in regionals and make a run at state.”
Logan Hanson
Link to full article: https://bvmsports.com/2022/04/20/leah-freeman-makes-anderson-county-softball-history-before-college-volleyball-career/?fbclid=IwAR1b_ijhzwcjs2gbZg6HMVDYTKVCvUtye32Aa8v8T9mTC3EiCA5lpKq-icU
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