On Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, Council Rock North senior Dominique Pinto signed a letter of intent to play softball at the University of Connecticut.
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Dominique Pinto – University of Connecticut (Softball)
Major: Finance
Final list of colleges: UConn, Cornell, Rutgers, George Washington, Penn State
Reasons for choosing UConn: “When I was going through the process, I was really looking to get all three aspects – social, softball and academics, and when I stepped onto UConn’s campus, I was just flooded with a feeling that I never wanted to leave. It’s in the BIG EAST, and it’s a great softball school. It’s great educationally, and I thought the social aspect was really great. I feel like I could make a lot of friends and have a lot of fun there. It’s just the perfect three.”
What was the progression that led you to playing collegiate softball? “When I was a sophomore, I moved up to the gold level in travel ball. My coach was presenting something, and one of the athletes that came back to present was a D-1 player. I hadn’t even realized I would be able to make it to that level, so I quit basketball, I dedicated all my time to softball. I didn’t do anything else. I literally woke up, ate, went to school, had softball and then came home and went to sleep again. I started working out with a trainer, and he really got me into shape and showed me I could definitely do this at the collegiate level. That was the year I really dedicated everything to it. That summer before my sophomore year was really important to me.”
Coach Hollie Woodard says: “Obviously, most people know Dom as an athlete. Her statistics speak for themselves, but what I’m privileged to know is the person. She’s an outstanding person, and she’s part of a fantastic family. Anyone who works with her falls in love with her. She’s the kind of kid that, by all accounts, should be arrogant, should be cocky, should be overly confident, and she’s not.
“It’s always interesting to see the younger kids come into the program, and at first, they’re terrified because they know who she is. They have this anticipation of who she’s going to be, and she’s just this silly, fun, let’s-learn-together type of kid who goes out of her way to make connections with the younger players. Everybody leaves loving Dom.
“We love her bat, we love her defense, and we love her heart on the field, but once you get an opportunity to spend some time with her you realize what an outstanding person she is. She never misses an opportunity to say thank you to me. As a high school coach, very few kids do that. She always says, ‘Thank you, coach. Good job coaching today.’ She’s just a great kid to be around, and her sister Chloe is the same way. I don’t know what it’s going to be like not having a Pinto on the bench. It’s been a nice seven years together.”
About Dominique:
Favorite food: Spaghetti
Favorite movie: Horrible Bosses
Favorite music: Country
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