“I started playing softball when I was younger, like third grade. I really looked up to my sister at the time, who also played softball.” (Photo: Ms. Lambrou)

Chloe Ortiz has been playing softball for Pace since she was a freshman. She’s currently the captain of the softball team and will be graduating in June. Coach Lee, and Coach Suriel, appointed Ortiz as the head captain alongside a few other captains.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

How did you fall in love with softball?

I started playing softball when I was in third grade. I really looked up to my sister at the time, who also played softball. She’s older than me, and I thought watching her game was really interesting. So I joined the same program that she did. It’s called RBI, and that’s how I started my softball career.

Would you say that you’re devoted to it ? Do you play softball outside of school? Or are you more devoted to Pace’s team?

I think I’m more devoted school wise. As much as I would like to play softball outside of school, there’s a lot of things that I also have to do outside the school that are academic, and I prioritize my academics over sports. In school, I’m definitely very determined. But there is a bit of a mental toll, because softball is a very mentally tolling sport.

As captain, if the team were to get a budget increase, what would you probably use it on?

I mean, we really have all that we need but some of the nets are sometimes a little wonky. So I would probably buy more equipment. I would get bats made for everyone’s preference because on the team there’s people who are taller than others, and people who are shorter than others and some bats are heavier than other bats.

How many days do you guys usually practice?

We started practices in March. For the first few weeks we met every day, including Saturdays. Almost every day for four weeks and then from there, it cut down to three practices a week, because of the games.

Do you think the softball team gets enough recognition compared to all the other sports in the school?

I think it doesn’t really, not that it needs recognition. A lot of people come to the games especially when it’s a home game. But most of our games are really far and hard for people to actually come to which I understand.


Is there anything specific that you enjoy about practice that you would explain to other people?

One thing that I really enjoy, especially from a captain standpoint, is seeing the younger girls, who don’t know how to play. I love to see them smiling when they know that they did something good or they learned something new.

I do remember going to some of your games last year. How would you describe that season? How did you think you performed?

That season was very different because all our star players were present. So a lot of us had to step up, including me. For example, I didn’t know how to pitch that well. Samaya, Ariel and Allison from last year didn’t know how to pitch that well. So the whole team had to step up with their position. We had to move people to positions they didn’t know how to play. And the competition was very difficult,
 Beacon and School of the Future. They’re all really good schools with really good players. We just all really had to overcome the challenges.

Considering last season and this season, out of all the new things that you’ve tried since you had to step up, what was your most favorite thing that you learned to do?

Pitching. I learned how to pitch in fifth grade, but I stopped because of Covid. I never knew how to do alternative pitches but thanks to Lee, I got to learn pitches like screwballs or change ups. I think that’s probably the best thing that I’ve been able to learn.