Former SHS standout Lea Hopson earns her stars and stripes, plays into spot on Team USA baseball squad

Published 4:15 am Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Must seem like old times.

A baseball player until she was 12, Sequim’s Lea Hopson made the transition to softball and became one of the best players in the region at the high school, junior college and eventually Division I Texas Tech.

Now she’s headed back to hardball after earning a position on the 2016 USA Baseball Women’s National Team last week.

Hopson and nearly 40 other top collegiate and post-collegiate ballplayers took part in the national team trials in Fullerton, Calif. The team, now whittled down to 20 players, will compete in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Women’s Baseball World Cup, held Sept. 3-11, in Gijang, South Korea.

USA Baseball announced the roster on Aug. 25.

Hopson says she wasn’t happy with making the switch back in her eighth grade year from hardball to softball.

“I’ve always loved baseball (so I was) kind of upset — I felt like I could compete at that level,” she says. “There’s nowhere really for us to go. We just don’t get the chance that guys get.”

At Sequim High, Hopson, primarily playing shortstop, helped lead the Wolves to a 28-0 record and the 2011 class 2A state title – the first in school history — thanks in part to a team-leading 12 home runs. The year prior she snapped the school record with 13 home runs as a junior en route to her first of two Olympic League MVP honors (2010, 2011).

Hopson went on to become one of the top junior college hitters in the country at the College of Southern Idaho, earning All-Region 18 first team honors in the 2012 season, and Region 18 Player of the Year and NJCAA first team All-American honors in 2013.

As a freshman, she hit .359 to go along with nine home runs, 11 doubles, six triples, 53 RBI and 62 runs scored. She helped lead the Eagles to a 43-18 record. As a sophomore, she got even better. Hopson hit .431 with 12 home runs and 46 RBI in 2013, helping lead the Eagles to a 50-11 mark. She also led the Eagles with both a .521 on-base percentage and a .702 slugging percentage and had five doubles, four triples, and a team-leading 24 stolen bases.

Hopson then transferred to Texas Tech 2013. As a junior she started all 54 games last season for the Red Raiders (35-19), batting .257 and leading the team in walks with 23. She also hit seven home runs and drive in 29 runs.

As a senior, Hopson was one of the top speed-power combinations in the Big 12 conference, belting 11 home runs to go along with 37 RBI, a .326 average and 10 steals. Named to the the All-Big 12 second team, she ended her career among the Red Raiders’ leaders for career home runs and stolen bases.

She graduated from Texas Tech in December 2015 with a degree in construction engineering.

Hopson stayed in Texas after graduation, working at Hub City Fieldhouse in Lubbock as a baseball and softball instructor.

“Working and paying bills,” Hopson says. “Not sure yet (about my future). I want to start travelling around live life a little bit before thinking about settling down.”

Hopson tried out for the Team USA Baseball squad in 2014 and make the first cut of players, a field of 40, but not the second and final cut.

“I had my head on my shoulders pretty good (then, but) it was kind of nerve wracking,” Hopson recalls of that first Team USA tryout. “I kind of got in this weird shell. Even before the cut I knew I hadn’t played my game. I just put my head down. Then, I really wanted to focus to my team (at Texas Tech).”

This time around it worked out, and Hopson will be playing middle infield and pitcher for the national squad as it seeks a world title in South Korea.

“I put in the training I put in the work (and) played well.” Hopson says. “I was comfortable (and) having fun. When I’m in that mindset, I compete.”

Team USA leaves Aug. 31 and returns Sept. 13.

While Hopson says she doesn’t know much about who they’ll play and what level their opponents will play at, that shouldn’t matter much.

“I’ve never though about opponent (in) preparing for other teams — at the end of the day, we’re playing our ball,” she says. “I’m going to play my game.”

When she does hit the field, it may be where she’s very familiar, as the team has her pegged for middle infield, and she’s also a third-string catcher. But she may see some action as a relief pitcher.

“I’ve never been a pitcher, never had the mindset of a pitcher,” Hopson says. “That’s a pretty big transition. I thought, ‘Hey, I’m going to own this.’ It’s a new thing but I’m an athlete.”

Hopson says she has a two and four-seam fastball to go along with a decent curve and change-up.

Returning to baseball has been fairly straight-forward for the 2011 Sequim High grad.

“At the end of the day, you’re still hitting a ball, still fielding a ball,” Hopson says.

But that self-described, 150-miles-per-hour engine has to cool down at bit on a baseball diamond, she says — particularly when she’s pitching or fielding a ground ball.

“(I’m) telling myself to slow down. I don’t need to field the ball and get it out quick,” she says. “Now I need to take my time. The hardest thing for me is slowing down.”

“It’s actually more complex than softball, it’s much more knowledge based; I like that. I’m always trying to grow.”

About the team

The 20 players, ranging in age from 16-42, were selected from the 38 participants at the trials. The team will train for five days in Villa Park, Fullerton, and Compton, Calif., before departing for South Korea to play in the World Cup.

A total of 10 different states will be represented on the 2016 Women’s National Team. Ten players on the 2016 roster — Samantha Cobb, Alex Fulmer, Brittany Gomez, Jade Gortarez, Tamara Holmes, Anna Kimbrell, Stacy Piagno, Cydnee Sanders, Marti Sementelli, Michelle Snyder, Malaika Underwood and Kelsie Whitmore — were also part of the 2015 USA Baseball Women’s National Team that won a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Toronto.

The No. 2-ranked USA Baseball Women’s National Team will face No. 9 Hong Kong in the Opening Round of the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup on Sept. 3.

Follow the Women’s National Team on Twitter (@USABaseballWNT) for scores, updates, photos and more.

USA Baseball Women’s National Team Roster

(By name, position, hometown)

Megan Baltzell, UT/LHP (Stafford, Va.)

Samantha Cobb, OF/RHP (Garland, Texas)

Shelby Estocado, IF/OF (Las Vegas, Nev.)

Alex Fulmer, OF/RHP (Little Mountain, S.C.)

Amanda Gianelloni, IF (Napoleonville, La.)

Brittany Gomez, OF (New Braunfels, Texas)

Jade Gortarez, IF/RHP (Riverside, Calif.)

A.J. Hamilton (Tallahassee, Fla.)

Tamara Holmes, OF (Albany, Calif.)

Amalia Hopson, UT/RHP (Sequim, Wash.)

Jessica Iwata, IF/RHP (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Anna Kimbrell, C (Fort Mill, S.C.)

Meggie Meidlinger, RHP/IF (Sterling, Va.)

Stacy Piagno, RHP (St. Augustine, Fla.)

Cydnee Sanders, IF/RHP (Magnolia, Texas)

Marti Sementelli, RHP, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Michelle Snyder, IF/RHP (Wenatchee, Wash.)

Sara Tobias, RHP (New York, N.Y.)

Malaika Underwood, IF (San Diego, Calif.)

Kelsie Whitmore, OF/RHP (Temecula, Calif.)

Coaching staff

Jonathan Pollard, manager (Dracut, Mass.)

Matthew Weagle, pitching coach (Auburn, Mass.)

Kerry Kincaid, assistant coach (Knightdale, N.C.)

Tim Mayo, assistant coach (Enfield, Conn.)