The Greenwood Blue Jays are no strangers to finding baseball talent wherever they can. “You probably know Nick Burri and Tommy Pinegar,” said Chance Rose, a junior on the team. “It was just going through the halls like, ‘Hey, can you guys play? You guys can golf, play baseball, do what you want all at the same time.'”
“We have kids that have never played before and now they’re starting for me on varsity,” added Greenwood head coach Chris Meza. “I’m just trying to find athletes.”
So when Meza recognized a former catcher in the halls who had come over from Springfield Catholic just like he had, he was ready to make his pitch. But he had to check with his team first. “I talked to the guys and made sure they were OK with it,” Meza said. “I didn’t want to impose anything.”
Sam Schneider was already a decorated ballplayer on the club level. But there was just one thing: Sam is short for Samantha. “No one was like, ‘No I don’t want that,'” Chance said. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh, she’ll help.'”
“He tracked me down and he was like, ‘So, have you thought about playing baseball?’ said Sam, a sophomore on the team. “And I was like, ‘No I really haven’t.'”
Greenwood doesn’t have a softball team. And her club squad doesn’t play in the spring since her teammates play high school softball at that time. So Sam was in.
“The first practice I was very shy,” Sam said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know how I feel about this.’ But especially my team captains and upperclassmen, they really took me in. They were like, ‘You’ve got this. We’re really excited you’re here.'”
It’s allowed Sam to thrive as the team’s starting left fielder and vocal leader. “Oh, she’s the loudest one on our team,” Chance said, with a laugh.
“She’s the bullnose of our team,” Meza said. “She’s out there yelling at the boys just like any of the boys would yell at each other.”
“She gets in on some of the jokes,” Chance added. “No, all the jokes! Sometimes she leads them. She’s one of the worst ones.”
It’s also funny when the other team finally sees who Sam is. “I’ve gotten a lot of funny looks from the dugout.” Sam laughed. “And I got to pitch in the JV game. I got up there and I struck the next kid out. And all I could hear from the dugout is, ‘You really let her do that? Like, are you kidding? It was, like 40 miles per hour.'”
And Sam’s already felt the difference between being hit by a softball and a baseball. She found the reaction from the fans entertaining. “Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, my God, are you OK? That had to hurt.’ And I was like, ‘OK.'”
It also doesn’t hurt that she’s on a team that’s welcomed her with open arms. “I’ve seen them grow up,” Meza said. “Become better men.”
“She just clicked with us like that,” Chance said, with a snap of the fingers. “We’ve all been friends, and she’s like one of my best friends now.”
And she’s been the best decision for a championship program that wanted Sam for the athlete and person she is.
