Softball
Favorite athlete: Sis Bates - She is an amazing athlete and a shortstop I definitely looked up to growing up playing that position even though eventually I switched.
Favorite team: Eagles!
Favorite memory competing in sports: This past season, my team's hard work paid off as we won the conference. Definitely one of my favorite memories to be a part of as our school has not won in over 20 years!
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: While warming up having a catch (something I have done since I was 7), I broke my nose when a ball hit me in the face.
Music on playlist: One of my favorite genres of music is country so songs such as "Knee Deep," "865," and "As She's Walking Away" are must haves on my playlists. I also enjoy more pop music such as "That's so True," "Spring into Summer," and "Work Song." Credits to my parents for making me listen to their favorite music styles when I was younger because songs like "Still Into You" and "Good Riddance" are still favorites of mine!
Future plans: I am thrilled about attending The University of Florida this coming fall! I look forward to being a part of Greek life, playing club softball, and joining numerous clubs to become involved throughout campus. Although I am not entirely sure what I will major in, I am excited to begin exploring new career avenues and find one I can envision working within. Go Gators!
Words to live by: "Love the life you live. live the life you love."
One goal before turning 30: Exploring the world and finding a career that I feel I was meant to be a part of.
By Mary Jane Souder
Roll back the calendar three years.
Sierra Klein, by her own admission, was an intimidated freshman on a veteran softball team at Council Rock North.
“I think there were three freshmen on the team, and everybody else was already a team,” Klein said. “They played together for a year, so it was very intimidating.”
That intimidated young freshman made an immediate impact, earning a spot in the starting lineup at a new position – second base.
Fast forward to this year, Klein again found herself in a unique position. This time as the lone senior on a young Rock North squad.
And when the team’s successful season – which included the program’s first league championship in 20 years - came to an end in the second round of the District 1 6A Tournament, the influence of Klein, according to her coach, was underscored.
“Everybody was obviously very upset after the game,” Rock North coach Susan Yee said. “A couple of our junior leaders stayed fairly late to talk to us (coaches) after the game.
“We said, ‘You know, it sucks. We get it, and we’re all upset. I’m going to go home and cry into my pillow tonight, but we still have next year. We have the whole team back minus one kid. We’re losing one player off the entire roster. We can do something next year. Look what you guys did this year.’
“One of the juniors looked at us and said, ‘No, this year was our year,’ and for her to say that with the only difference between this year and next year is Sierra, that’s the level of impact she thinks Sierra has, and I think that really spoke volumes to me when she made that comment.”
A four-year starter, Klein was a rare three-year captain. As a senior, she anchored the infield at third base and was the team’s cleanup batter.
“Everything she does – she has a quiet way of doing it, but when you look at the impact, it’s a loud impact,” Yee said. “This year she led the team in RBIs, she led the team in extra base hits, but she didn’t come up to the plate and people would go, ‘Oh my God, you can’t pitch to this kid.’ She’s not going to hit 10 home runs a season, but if you make a mistake, she’ll put it out. She’s just going to do the job and never question what or why.”
Last year, Klein found herself hitting behind power hitter Molly Sheehy.
“We had a game – I want to say it was Conwell-Egan,” Yee said. “They walked Molly, and Sierra came up to bat, and I was like, ‘Make them pay,’ and she put it over the fence. She’s one of those kids that – if you’re not part of the team, you don’t realize the impact she has.”
Back to the beginning
Sports have been part of Klein’s life for as long as she can remember.
“My family is definitely an athletic family,” she said. “Both my brothers play sports, so from a young age, I was very into sports. My mom and my dad played. My dad did track (high jump). My mom was a gymnast and a D1 fencer in college.
“When I was younger, I did a bunch of sports. I did gymnastics, I did dance, basketball, soccer. I started softball when I was seven years old. I think it was something I grew into. I started it with my friends. Initially, it was just something to be around my friends more often.
“Once I started getting more serious, I started quitting my other sports and really focusing on softball when I joined my travel team. I was maybe 12 years old, and I started to really get into it. I knew that is where I wanted to continue.”
And continue Klein did.
She began her travel team experience with Newtown Rock and most recently played with the Lady Bombers, a showcase team for players looking to play at the collegiate level.
Interestingly, Klein - who had opportunities – will not be continuing her softball career at the next level.
“When I was younger, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m definitely playing college,’” she said. “I’ve seen people grow up and play, and I think that was my mindset, but as I got older, I began to understand how much of a time commitment it is.
“As much as I loved it, it was a big commitment. I wanted to have the full college experience and not be trapped onto my softball team the whole time. I knew that the commitment from playing a college sport would just be a little bit too much for me. “
Klein’s final college list included the University of Florida, Maryland and Clemson.
“In the end, it was between Clemson and UF because Clemson had a program that I was really interested, but I’m very connected to my Jewish identity, and the environment at UF was a lot stronger,” she said. “If I could get the same degree at both places, I thought I’d just be more connected and have a better experience at Florida.”
Although undecided in a major, Klein is considering advertising, focusing on the design and graphics aspect.
The high school journey
Well before Klein tried out for the high school team, she took private hitting lessons from Yee. A fact the Rock North coach did not allow to play into her decisions when winter workouts rolled around Klein’s freshman year.
“Kids have to earn stuff on their own,” Yee said. “It doesn’t matter who you know, what you know, whether you’ve trained with me in the past, whatever, so I said nothing and didn’t let on I’d ever met the kid.
“We went about our winter workout, and after practice was over, I went to the other coaches and said to them – ‘Did you see anybody that stood out that you think might actually be able to make a difference and impact this year on the varsity.’”
Yee’s volunteer assistant had an immediate response.
“He said, ‘The one freshman – I think her name is Sierra – that kid can really hit. I think she’s going to make a difference,’” the Rock North coach said. “I genuinely was asking him what he thought of everybody because I didn’t get a chance to go over to the batting cage that day, so I didn’t see any of the hitting.
“I was like – did anyone else stand out? He said – ‘There are some kids that I think will progress and do things, but this kid has a shot of doing something for the varsity.’ I said, ‘Okay, that’s good to hear.’ He’s looking at my face now, and I said, ‘I already knew she could hit. I’m her hitting coach.’ We continued to keep that quiet – they can question me as much as they want, but I don’t ever want that coming back to a kid.”
By the end of winter workouts, Klein was clearly fitting in with the varsity group.
“They’re all accepting her and making nicknames for her,” Yee said. “We had lost our pitchers, but we didn’t really have a whole lot of openings on the varsity squad, and it became apparent she was probably going to be the one who earned.”
A natural third baseman or shortstop, Klein agreed to try second base.
“She was like, ‘Sure, whatever you need me to do,’” Yee said. “She ended up starting at second base, and she was the only freshman on the varsity team. She actually had some of the best stats at the all-league meeting of any second baseman, but she was a freshman and others were not.
“She did a really good job, but it was a very quiet job, if that makes sense. That was the year we really struggled pitching-wise, so she got a lot of work in the field because that was the year that the pitchers had double-digit ERAs. She never got jaded by the fact that it was the only taste she had of high school ball.”
In fact, quite the opposite was true.
“Even though we lost so many games (the Indians were 1-18), that was my favorite year,” Klein said. “We had so much fun. No one was really sad about losing because we were just happy to play, and it was so fun.”
The following year, Klein was named a captain,
“We ask all of our players to nominate captains – they’re allowed to nominate up to three, and they don’t have to nominate any,” Yee said. “Every nomination they give they have to say why they think that. So, when the coaches take all of that into consideration, we’re seeing the kids’ side of things and maybe seeing a perspective we don’t necessarily see.”
It is a role she held for three years.
“I was honored that I was selected as captain because it showed that I had leadership on the team, so that was really fun,” she said. “I got to work with two of my captains for two years, and this year I was obviously with a new group because they graduated last year.
“It’s a lot of fun getting to work with the team, deciding theme days or events we want to do off the field. It was fun being that motivational person for the team.”
As for her style of leadership – it was inclusive.
“I discussed a lot with my team,” she said. “I wanted their input on what they wanted. I wanted to not separate captains and team. I wanted to be together.”
Klein was a key part of the program’s dramatic turnaround that culminated with winning a share of the division title this spring.
“The people I won that with – I played with them since my sophomore year, so getting to put all that work together and gain that title was really amazing,” Klein said. “I was very sad to leave because it was kind of the end of my formal softball career. I played with these kids on travel since I was 12, so having to leave them is very sad, but I had a great four years, so I’m excited to experience new things and have new adventures, so as much as I will miss it, I’m very excited for what’s ahead.”
A bright future
An excellent student Klein is a member of the National Honor Society as well as the social studies, Spanish and business honor societies. As a result, she is very active in community service. Klein is also a Rock Ambassador, one of a select group chosen to integrate incoming students into school life.
“I’m also very involved with my Jewish youth group, and I’ve been part of the board for four years,” said Klein, whose family moved to Newtown when she was three years old. “I attended the Early Learning Center of my Synagogue until first grade, so I was surrounded by the Jewish environment from a young age.
“I love being connected to my Jewish identity, and those friends I’ve grown up with are still my best friends today, so that was a huge part of my life.”
Klein is looking forward to being actively involved in the University of Florida Hillel
She leaves Rock North with many fond memories of her involvement in sports, which included playing volleyball as a freshman and sophomore – varsity as a sophomore.
“It’s given me a bigger community, getting to meet people outside my grade,” Klein said. “Getting to see every single grade on the team is really fun and just having a different community aside from my close-knit friends is a lot of fun.”
For Yee, it won’t be quite the same without the three year captain, who was the only sophomore captain she’s ever had.
“When Sierra was a sophomore, we had already assumed that the two juniors were going to end up being captains, and when we were reading all of the nominations, we were like – we have to have three captains,” the Rock North coach said. “She was only a sophomore, but these younger kids are telling us they’re looking up to her.
“She’s very organized in terms of making sure everybody’s on the same page and knows what’s going on. She’s very, very like I’m not going to expect anything out of somebody else that I don’t expect out of myself. She's just an all-around great kid who will really be missed next year.”
