The CT Softball Blog

In her four years at Northwest Catholic High School, Skyler Bacon has learned something about herself. She loves being on stage, and in the spotlight. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the circle for Northwest Catholic’s softball team, or standing on the literal stage inside the school’s Richard Rice Auditorium. Bacon, a resident of Bloomfield, will be wrapping up her high school softball career soon enough and she’ll be headed off to the University of North Florida, where she hopes to major in social work. Before a recent game against Ellington, though, Bacon took time out to go “Extra Innings” with the CT Softball Blog.

FIRST INNING: What is your story in terms of becoming a softball player? How did you find your way to the softball field?

SKYLER BACON: Well, at my middle school we didn’t have many sports because we were a very small school. My class overall was around only 30 kids. I played basketball in the winter and I wasn’t that good. And they offered to start up a new sport and it was softball. So, I started playing and we were too small to have a team and actually play. But once it was my eighth-grade year when that happened and I realized that going into my freshman year I wanted to try and actually do more sports and I heard (Northwest Catholic) had a softball team. So I went in and yeah, here I am now four years later as the captain.

SECOND INNING: What was the biggest adjustment for you, picking up the game so late?

SB: Well, I mean I wasn’t very athletic going into softball my freshman year. Like I said, we didn’t have many sports. I didn’t do many growing up. I did soccer at one point, but not much. So going into it, especially my older coach before our coach now, he was very much like run fast, hit hard, all that stuff. And I wasn’t very ready for that, wasn’t really prepared. It  took a lot of pushing and just getting to the form of it to be able to run fast, run to the ball, catch the ball, hand -eye coordination, all of that.

THIRD INNING: You’re a pitcher and a center fielder. What is your preference?

SB: I prefer being pitcher because I find it more fun in the infield as well as being really a part of the action because I feel like when you’re the pitcher, it’s a lot of weight on you. If you pitch the ball, where’s it going? Because every hit, every play, every player is determined on how you perform. And I think that weight is almost comforting.

FOURTH INNING: How tough was it to learn how to pitch?

SB: I mean, it was kind of funny. Our original coach we had before, we had a pitcher going straight into it so I never really tried. And then we got our new coach last year and the very first practice was pitchers and catchers, but I couldn’t make it. So halfway through  the season I was like, “Coach, can I jokingly try pitching right now?” And I threw a pretty decent pitch and then she was like, “Wait, you can actually pitch, you kind of know what you’re doing without practice.” And then with some actual practice, I got better, closer to strikes, more consistent and here I am now all because of one just joking comment.

FIFTH INNING: You wear uniform No. 2. Have you always had that number?

SB: I’ve sort of always had it. I used to be 15 when I played basketball in middle school, but for some reason in second grade I was just like number two is the number I’m going to decide that I want going on for the rest of my life. And, so going into high school, we had someone who was a number 15 as a senior and seniors got priority pick and I was like, I’m just going to take two because that’s my lucky number.

SIXTH INNING: Obviously, it’s been a tough season for Northwest Catholic (0-15). As a senior, and captain as well, how do you keep the girls up and stay positive?

SB: I think it’s very important, especially to perform good, to have a very good mentality in our mental state going into these games. So, what I tend to do is—I also used to do this for theater because it can get stressful—is I tend to bring up that positive energy. So, I’m usually the one leading cheers, usually coming up with silly rhymes or finding fun ways to do practices. When we’re doing warmups, I’ll ask a question that we’ll all answer. I think what’s important is building a family out of your team first, to go in with a good mindset because what matters more to us is how we ourselves perform rather than what the scoreboard is looking like.

SEVENTH INNING: Let’s get away from softball. What’s the best thing about Northwest Catholic?

SB: I think one of the best things is it’s such a tight-knit community and I feel like I’ve grown up with most of these people since the second grade because it’s usually a chain of schools and our classes are very interactive. So, I think going into Northwest, it’s a very welcoming place. You’ll always find some form of people. They’re very open with their clubs. I know we have a Friday Adventure club. We’ve got robotics, theater. All these places are very welcoming environments and no matter how much stress or how good or bad you play, you’ll always find some form of people, some group that will always be there for you and look out with you.

EIGHTH INNING: If you could change one thing about the school, what would it be?

SB: Probably just the priority of knowing when school events and sport events are because we don’t often announce when games are. So sometimes we either have like our families only or like if we’re always like, we got to be loud about it, hey, we have a game today, we’ll get like 20 students and families and all that.

NINTH INNING: What got you involved in the theater program here at Northwest?

SB: I was never huge in the musicals, to be honest. I always found the concept of acting and then bursting out in a song to be weird, but as I went into it, I started to realize how beautiful and complex it can be. The concept that no matter who you are at home, you can just be this completely different person on stage. Before this year, I wasn’t much of an actor. I maybe did the play and was a background character and I mostly did behind the scenes stuff. I made the props or the set or helped with costumes. But going onto it, I tried out this year for the musical and you just get to be a completely different person and just the creativity that you can put into it just helps you become more of a fuller person.

TENTH INNING: If you could star on any Broadway show, what would you throw yourself into?

SB: I think I’d want to do “Ride the Cyclone.” I think the concept of it as a musical is a very interesting concept and I think it’s a plot line that I think I’d maybe want to be in.

ELEVENTH INNING: What is something nobody knows about you?

SB: I guess it sounds weird to say, but I can find myself to be sort of like an onion where I have several different layers. I feel like when I’m in school and stuff, I’m a very quiet, but I feel like the longer people get to know me and the more people get to talk to me, the more of an open person I can be—like a flower, as well. I can bloom and blossom to be this person you might never know.

TWELFTH INNING: What is the last book that you read that wasn’t for school?

SB: I’m not a huge reader, but I did just read this recent book. It was called Goodnight Punpun, and it was about this little kid and growing up in a complicated world and figuring out who you are around the world. It was a pretty interesting concept.

THIRTEENTH INNING: What’s the perfect breakfast?

SB: I’m not actually a very huge breakfast person, but I think there’s this one place in Canton called the Log Cabin. Sometimes I’ll go. They have this two for two for two for two. It’s two bacon, two French toast, two eggs, however you like, and then two pieces of toast. I think that’s an ideal one. Just like maybe if I’m having a long weekend, a long week, maybe I can just go Saturday morning and just go there and get a nice breakfast.

FOURTEENTH INNING: After the game tonight, when you go home, what’s the perfect home-cooked meal waiting for you?

SB: Shrimp Alfredo. I really like shrimp and especially alfredo. Just the combination’s just perfect and beautiful.

FIFTEENTH INNING: And your ideal midnight snack?

SB: Honestly, probably ramen, just homemade ramen. Yeah, put in the microwave for three minutes and then you have yourself a nice little warm meal.

SIXTEENTH INNING: This is the first time we’ve ever asked this question, but what are your thoughts on artificial intelligence and the future?

SB: I personally am not a very huge fan of artificial intelligence. I think, like I said earlier , bout how creativity is the way someone can express themselves and sprout. I think with this easy way to find your answers and find ways to make pictures, I think it sort of is shriveling our generation and upcoming generations’ creativity a bit. And I think it can be used to good use. Maybe if you’re making a presentation to prove a point, you can use it to build off of, but you shouldn’t be copy and pasting. We shouldn’t be making films. We’re taking away people’s jobs and I think we can use it to help us, but I feel like at this point in time, we’re using it for the wrong reasons.

SEVENTEENTH INNING: Let’s go back to a softball question real quick: What kind of hype-up music do you listen to be before a game, or what would you want for walk-up music?

SB: Actually  we do have hype music and walk-up songs. For me, sometimes before games, before I get here, I’ll be in the car or I’ll have my headphones in. I’ll either play some very calming summer music or some very hype music. I like Sublime. I like all of that rock and indie 2000s music because I think it sjust the idea of summer and the beautiful warmth is so enthusiastic. I feel like every student, especially in high school is looking forward to summer so that summer music really gets into a “This is going to be a good day” feeling.

EIGHTEENTH INNING: What one word best describes Skyler Bacon?

SB: Honestly? Just open.