A three-sport athlete during her final two years of high school, Flagstaff鈥檚 Hallie Watkins never truly intended to keep so busy during the latter half of her Eagles career.
Jumping at the chance to join Flagstaff鈥檚 inaugural flag football season as a junior and adding soccer to the mix during the winter as well before her first love of softball arrived in the spring, Watkins wound up with all-region recognition across all three sports. A first-team 5A Northwest Region defensive back as a junior and an honorable mention in the 4A Mountain Sky Region as a senior, Watkins also earned 4A Grand Canyon Region honorable mention in soccer as a senior.
Those accomplishments joined a growing list of individual recognition as Watkins earned three Grand Canyon Region honors during her four-year varsity career on Flagstaff鈥檚 softball team. An honorable mention as a sophomore, Watkins was named all-region first team as a junior and senior and capped off her career with a spot on the All-4A Conference Second Team.
鈥淪occer kind of came from doing flag football,鈥� Watkin said. 鈥淢y freshman year, I never thought I鈥檇 become a three-sport athlete, but I think it鈥檚 really cool that I am.鈥�
With Watkins鈥檚 softball career tracing back to when she was about 9 years old, it will now continue on as she signed her letter of intent to join Yavapai College on May 2.
Located just an hour and a half southwest of Flagstaff, Yavapai will allow Watkins鈥� family to continue watching her play. With the program offering a history of sending players on to Division I or II programs, Watkins liked the idea of continuing to develop with the help of the Roughriders coaches and staff.
鈥淢y family鈥檚 a big part of who I am, and I feel that it was really important that they鈥檙e still super close,鈥� Watkins said. 鈥淎ll of my siblings grew up playing sports, so I think that really helped, because they were able to play catch and hit whenever. Then my parents are both really supportive, and they obviously take me almost every weekend to Phoenix, because I play for a club softball team down there.鈥�
Watkins said she realized early in her Eagles career she had a desire to play at the next level, having made varsity as a freshman and produced an impressive .348 batting average with a .400 on-base percentage and four home runs. Those numbers steadily improved over her career, as Watkins hit .383 with a .469 on-base percentage as a junior before finishing her career with a .378 batting average and a .521 on-base percentage this spring season.
鈥淢y freshman year, I knew I was coming in there as one of only like two freshmen on the team. The majority of girls were upperclassmen, so I had a lot of girls to look up to. That really helped show me who I wanted to be when I became a senior,鈥� Watkins said of her career鈥檚 consistency. 鈥淚 just always had that in the back of my mind going through my four years.鈥�
The approach to her career became even more valuable as Watkins鈥� senior season encountered some challenges, with Flagstaff having a new manager arrive after the season had started.
鈥淚t was really crazy. It was kind of hard, but I think it honestly helped us throughout our season because we just wanted it so bad,鈥� Watkins said. 鈥淚t pushed us to show everybody that we do deserve to be where we are and that we were a good team.鈥�
The irregular path the season started on carried into Flagstaff's final two games of the season. With what essentially felt like three games in three days, a rainout spoiled Flagstaff鈥檚 second-round home game, forcing a continuation a day later at a neutral site in the north Valley. A loss to Poston Butte pushed Flagstaff into an elimination game on their home field the following day -- which ended up as the end of the team's postseason run.
鈥淚t was a little bit frustrating the way it ended, but I don鈥檛 think anybody thought we鈥檇 make it as far as we did,鈥� Watkins said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really cool that we exceeded expectations.鈥�