Post Photo by Chris Siers Maggie Daughrity signs her letter of intent to continue her playing career at Austin Peay.
Post File Photo by Kacy Kincaid Daughrity has become an exceptional slap-hitter for the Lady Rockets during the course of her career.
By Chris Siers
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
Forrest’s Maggie Daughrity may not have always been the biggest or strongest player on the field, but what she lacked in size throughout her playing career, she made up with hard work, determination and heart.
Those three elements helped lead Daughrity to sign her letter of intent to continue her softball career at Austin Peay.
“It’s kind of a rollercoaster. I’m really happy to go to school and play the sport I’ve always loved, but I’m also sad to leave my friends and family because they’ve been with me the whole ride. But I’m really excited for the journey ahead,” she said.
Daughrity was in the mix with other schools during the recruiting process, but from attending a camp at Austin Peay several years ago, the campus won her over and helped make her decision when it came time to pick out a college destination.
“The summer of my sophomore year, I went to a softball camp there and I loved the campus,” she said.
Daughrity has made a living as the Lady Rockets’ right fielder and as an exceptional slap hitter in the Forrest batting lineup.
She got her start playing through t-ball and youth leagues, but it was during the COVID-19 shutdown that Daughrity really focused on her approach at the plate and getting her name out there for college recruiting.
“I played when I was younger t-ball and then softball. Probably the COVID year is when I started to get really serious. When COVID hit, I started going to these lessons and getting really serious about the recruiting process,” she said
Having been a smaller player for most of her career, Daughrity always was looking for an edge to one up the competition, which often found her putting in the hours working on her hitting and in the weight room.
“In middle school, I was always smaller than everyone else. I’ve always had to work harder, get faster and quicker and do everything I could to play as hard as I could,” she said.
During her playing years, Daughrity played in plenty of games at the state’s highest level in the TSSAA state tournament, but back to her freshman year stands out as one of her favorite memories playing the game.
“Everyone says they love the state championship, but my favorite memory wasn’t when we won. My freshman year, my sister was a senior. That was the only year we’ve ever gotten to play together. That really meant a lot to me,” she said.
Daughrity plans on studying engineer technology with a minor in business.
