Tyler Ellison has gone from longtime fan to leadoff hitter for Georgia softball, emerging as a key piece in the Bulldogs’ postseason push. So far this season, Ellison is batting .315 with 8 home runs and 28 RBIs.
With the SEC tournament around the corner, Ellison reflects on her journey, the work that’s fueled her rise, and the mindset keeping her grounded.
Q: Was there a specific moment where you knew you wanted to play softball in college?
A: I think, honestly from a young age, just coming to watch college softball games and stuff, I knew that it was always a dream of mine, but I think like once I started getting older and you get closer to the recruiting process and you start playing on good travel teams, I think it became like, real for me. And I knew then I was like, yeah, this is something that I want to turn into reality, and it’s something that I want to pursue.
Q: Yeah, and talking about recruiting, what factored into your decision to come here to Georgia versus other schools that may have been recruiting you at the time?
A: Well, I’ve been around Georgia softball for a long time. I’ve been coming to camps here, games here all the time. and so this was always like, kind of a dream school for me. And so during the recruiting process when this was one of the schools that reached out to me and showed interest in me, I knew that this is something that I wanted to pursue and honestly, this is where I wanted to be.
Q: That’s awesome. I mean, obviously, you’ve been watching here for a while, but now that you’re here, what was the biggest challenge from transitioning from high school ball to playing like in the SEC?
A: I would definitely say that once you get to college softball like the SEC, the game is definitely a lot faster and not to mention the competition is a whole lot better, like the pitchers are moving their pitches better, the hitters are better, and so it’s just kind of like a step up that you have to kind of take your game if you wanna, like, compete and stay in the running with everybody else.
Q: Moving into this past off season, what were some of the skills that you honed in and how has that work reflected in your play so far this year?
A: Well, I put a lot of focus on my weight room time. I wanted to really try and like, improve myself physically and get stronger and all the things. And then I really just focused a lot on my game aspect of stuff, my hitting, my defense, just overall just trying to become better and improve my little skills, so that way it could translate into the practice and the games.
Q: You’ve seen a major boost in playing time this year, what has kept you grounded, in your transition from sort of a bench bat to an everyday player leading off?
A: I feel like just, like, my mindset, I really try hard to keep just a neutral, calm mindset. I don’t try and think about too much or do too much. I just try and stay within myself and keep everything simple and just perform to the best of my abilities.
Q: You say keeping things simple, I assume you have sort of a daily routine, that you’ve probably had for years now. How has it had to shift given your uptick in playing time this year?
A: Honestly, I think because I am seeing the field more, I can kind of take some things away from like the consistency. So, like the consistency of being in the lineup all the time allows me to be consistent in my routines and like, how I approach at bats and things like that. and so, I really just try my best to lean on a consistent mindset and I just stick with it and go.
Q: And this offseason we debuted this new facility here, how has it helped you and the team prepare on a day to day basis?
A: Honestly with just the amount of great stuff we have, it’s just nice to just have it all in one area. I know we’ve saved a lot of our time like outside in the heat because we’re able to lift inside, we’re able to do our workouts and warmups inside. I know our batting cage is getting a huge upgrade compared to our old indoor facility, where the lighting wasn’t as great and maybe like the cages weren’t as nice, so it definitely allows us to improve our hitting in a way because we have a nicer facility to work out of. Just everything being close and right around each other, it allows us to, I guess, get the most out of our training here because we have our weight room here, our hitting here, we can even bring our schoolwork here and get that done while we’re here.
Q: I know you talked about improving your hitting. You’ve obviously had a great season so far, you’re up there in terms of a lot of hitting categories on the team, so with seven games left in the year, what are you keying in on to prepare for like a deep SEC tournament and postseason run?
A: Honestly, just still trying to compete and just stick to a calm simple mindset and just sticking to my approach, and I feel like sticking with what I know and relying on my training is gonna help me succeed.
Q: Speaking about the postseason, I know you’ve had a little taste of postseason action the past two years, including some games here at Jack Turner Stadium. How is the atmosphere different from a regular season game, and how excited are you to get back to that?
A: I feel like the atmosphere changes, number one with the crowds. I know a lot of times when you get into the postseason, you tend to get bigger crowds and a lot of times you’ll get bigger crowds that are like more engaged with the game and so they tend to get louder and they rally behind you when you have a big inning, and so I know a lot of times that can have a real big impact on like the feeling of the game. And honestly, I feel like once you start getting into postseason and you get into regionals and you get into super regionals, you can feel as a player, like just how close you are to making it to the World Series. It makes you wanna go that much harder and fight that much harder for your teammates because you know that you’re just one step closer to reaching every college softball girl’s dream.
Q: That’s awesome to hear. In closing, I wanted to ask what advice would you give to younger players who are waiting on their opportunity to play?
A: I would just tell them to continue to believe in themselves and continue to just work hard and fight for what they want, because I believe that if you work hard and you stick to what you want, you keep fighting after what you want, you’ll find a way to make it happen. Then also just keep on believing in yourself because I feel like nothing can really break you down or keep you from achieving your dreams if you have that belief and you have that fight within yourself.
Bailey Campbell is a student in the undergraduate certificate program at the Carmical Sports Media Institute at the University of Georgia.
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