Pennridge’s Averi Dockery will continue her softball career at Florida State University. The recent grad shares her journey to the ACC powerhouse. (Action shots provided by Pennridge softball)
Averi Dockery – Florida State University (Softball)
Major: Biology
Final list of colleges: Florida State, University of Virginia, Liberty, James Madison
Was it your dream to play softball for a powerhouse program? When I was really, really young, I had my mind set on Florida State, and there’s actually a picture my dad posted on signing day. It’s a flashback of me. My mom had an old Florida State sweatshirt. I would wear it around, and I was like, ‘I’m going to go to school here one day.’
“I got a little older, and not that I couldn’t do it, but I also came to realize how hard that was going to be and how tough that school was. Not that I said, ‘Oh, you can’t do that,’ it was just there were other options. So, I looked at other places, and I was doing other things.”
How did Florida State enter the picture? “I actually played (travel softball) for Sellersville Scream, one of the more local organizations. Going into my junior year, I went to camp in North Carolina, and one of the head directors recommended a camp that was held in South Carolina that had all kinds of D1 schools, almost any school you could think of was there. You could sign up for – it was an hour session. It was you and the coaches. They had a whole field with the head coaches of whatever team you wanted. It was multiple days, but that day I had Florida State in the morning, and then I was supposed to do UNC and then go to Tennessee.
“What was even more interesting was my mom signed me up for the Florida State one without me even knowing. I was like, ‘Mom, why did you do that? That’s really a big stretch.’ She was like, ‘Just do it. You never know. Don’t doubt yourself. Just go and give it everything you got.’
“So I had my Florida State session first thing in the morning, and I was like, ‘Oh gosh, here we go.’ I went at it - I had a really good time, I performed well. I got along with the coaches very well. I admired their coaching style and how they really brought you out of your shell on the field. You were playing with a bunch of strangers. You didn’t know who they were, they made you learn how to communicate with people you didn’t know, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and really proving who you were as an athlete, and I enjoyed that.
“I got along with the coaches very well, and I went up to them after the camp and said, ‘Thank you, I had a great time. Is there anything I can work on?’ All that kind of stuff. I was like, ‘That was kind of cool,’ but I didn’t think anything of it. I thought – ‘Well, that was a good experience.’
“I’d say a month later, I got a message to my Twitter, and it was a link to a camp, and it was sent by the assistant coach at Florida State. It was an invite-only camp, and they invited me to go down to Florida State - play on their field and just get me on their turf, so I went to the prospect camp.
“Afterwards, we were taking pictures as you usually do, getting ready to post on your Instagram, and I’m taking pictures with the head coach, and
she said to me, ‘I’ll talk to you soon.’ It didn’t register with me at the moment what that meant, but it was right before Sept. 1 (the first date coaches are permitted to talk to juniors). I couldn’t wrap my head around that. I was like, ‘What does that mean? What is she saying?’”
When did the recruiting officially begin that led you to committing to FSU? “The day before Sept. 1 rolls around, and my dad gets a phone call from the FSU assistant coach, and they say – ‘We want Averi on a Zoom at midnight,’ so you bet that at midnight I was on that Zoom. I was talking to the whole coaching staff, and they offered me my spot on the team. That was a memory I will never forget. That was amazing, and the coaches are just amazing people. They were so welcoming. Lonni Alemada is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met in my entire life. I can’t even begin to put into words how much I admire her and how much she is a lovely person. She’s just truly one of a kind. She’s awesome.
“They obviously said, ‘We don’t need an answer right now.’ I said to them, ‘I have other people that have offered me. I have other visits, and I’m just going to explore all my options, and I’ll get back to you at the end of the month.’ They said, ‘That’s totally fine. Take as much time as you need, no rush.’
“I visited UVA, I went to Liberty, I went to JMU. I went to all my other places, and I was like – ‘It’s just not FSU, it’s just not the coaching staff.’ I loved all those coaches that I went to see, but Florida State was just in the back of my head, and I was like, ‘I don’t think I could beat that.’
“It was Sept. 19 or something like that, and I said to my mom, ‘I think I’m going to commit to Florida State.’ She’s like – ‘Really?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to do it,’ so I called up the head coach, and I told her I was going to commit to Florida State.”
What position are you projected to play at FSU? “Pitching, for sure, and they have mentioned me playing in the infield. I’m not quite sure where in the infield. We have a lot of girls coming in in the middle infield, and just wherever they need me. They did say they would give me the opportunity to hit”
Looking back at your journey – could you wrap your head around what was happening? Little kids dream big dreams, but you have a chance to live out your dream. Most people don’t have that opportunity. “It was always the plan to play college softball. Whether it was Division 1 or Division
3, I wanted somewhere that was going to give me a good education. Unfortunately, softball doesn’t last forever, So I wanted to go somewhere that would put me in a good place where I could get a job and set myself up for the future. Florida State has an amazing program, and I am very, very grateful and fortunate to be able to be a part of that.”
Pennridge coach Kristyn Marinelli says: “Averi is the real deal. Throughout my short time here, I’ve gotten to know her as a player, as a student and as a person, and all around, she’s an amazing kid. I’ve had her in the classroom as a social studies teacher, and she was a pleasure to have. She works really hard on the field and in the classroom and outside of that, and the accolades that come her way are certainly deserved.
“Averi is a gamer, she is competitive, she is someone who wants to succeed and puts all of the pieces in place to do so. She doesn’t just talk the talk - she practices what she preaches. She really took on a leadership role this year, encouraging younger players and players she’s played with a long time, which is impressive to see because she’s a quieter kid than I thought she would have been getting to know her, but I appreciated her speaking up in a leadership role this year as a senior.
“Averi is calm, cool and collected, and that poise is impressive to see from a 15, 16, 17-year-old. I think that is what the college coaches who have watched her play see. I understand that talent is important and talent is necessary, but it’s those intangible skills that you can’t teach and you can’t coach that college coaches need to see to be a good fit, and she certainly has those. Her talent, sure, but that poise and that quiet confidence from all sides of the game – at shortstop, on the mound and at the plate is impressive. She’s going to succeed in the next steps of her career.”
About Averi:
Favorite food: Stuffed Flank Steak
Favorite TV show: The Big Bang Theory
Favorite music/artist: Country/Cody Johnson
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