Chanler Powell has been dreaming of playing college softball since she was a little kid. Now a senior at Benicia High School, the softball star will soon see her wishes come true.
Powell signed a scholarship offer to play softball for Texas Southern University during a signing ceremony last Saturday at Rookies Sports Bar & Grill in Benicia. The scholarship – which reflects Powell’s athletic and academic skills – will cover virtually all of her expenses at the Division I university located in Houston, Texas.
“I think I realized around the age of 10 that playing college softball was what I wanted to do,” Powell said. “It’s been my goal this whole time and getting the scholarship offer is a big weight lifted off my shoulders.”
Powell is no stranger to Houston. Her fall travel ball team – Strike Zone based in Fremont – participates in a tournament every year in the oil city. It was during one of these tournaments that she met Texas Southern head coach Worley Barker, who was impressed with the second baseman who could hit for power.
“They liked that I was a power hitter with speed and that I could play the infield,” Powell said. “They were looking for an infield power hitter and I fit what they needed.”
Powell has been tearing things up lately for Benicia High’s varsity softball team. She’s 8-for-12 in her past four games with three homers, nine runs and 11 RBI. She currently leads the Lady Panthers in homers, runs and RBI, and also has stolen five bases.
Powell was just as impressed with the Lady Tigers of Texas Southern.
“I really like the school and everyone on the team was nice,” said Powell, who will study in the Honors Business Program at the university. “I really connected with the coach and I like the way he runs his program. He works them hard and I want to be pushed to do more.”
Powell has spent her whole life here and is looking forward to moving away to a new region of the country.
“I’m actually pretty excited,” Powell said. “It’s an opportunity to do something different for four years because I was born and raised here. It’ll be nice to get out and get a new experience – to see what it’s like somewhere else.”
Powell is expected to play either second base or third base for the Lady Tigers, who are currently 21-16 overall and 10-2 in the Southwest Athletic Conference.
Powell is the fourth Lady Panther in the past two seasons to sign college softball scholarship offers (current teammate Danielle Kranz with Carson Newman in Tennessee; Kendall Core at Alabama State, and Kira Knight at Pace University in New York).
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