Pueblo East’s Mariah Gonzales was an all-conference pitcher in softball last fall, but the end of the season also marked an end to her softball career.
After years of competing, she knew leaving softball behind wasn’t going to be easy, but she’s found a new sport to put a smile back on her face in golf.
“I started playing golf like a few months ago,” Gonzales said. “We only had three girls on the team and (Coach Joe Terry) asked if we wanted to join the team, so we said yes. So that’s where that started and I love it.”
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Gonzales was a standout softball player for the Eagles. In her last season on the mound, she led the South-Central League in strikeouts with 251, which was 10th-best in the entire country. She was no slouch at the plate either, batting .373 with two home runs and 16 RBIs in her final season.
And while the all-star Eagle has decided to give up softball now that her high school career is over, she still felt like playing a sport to end her senior year. When coach Terry approached Gonzales and her sister to join the team, the pair decided to try it out.
“It’s just so much fun,” Gonzales said. “I just love how it’s only you out there, you don’t have to rely on a team, it’s just you doing your own thing. So if you don’t get a good score then that’s on you. You don’t have to rely on anyone else for what happens.”
Gonzales is still getting the hang of playing golf, but her past approach to competing in softball is helping to guide her in golf.
“You have to have integrity,” Gonzales said. “If you don’t put in work then you’re not going to get better: same thing that we’ve done in softball for our whole lives.”
The low turnout for East’s girls golf team this year has presented some challenges. But Gonzales and her fellow first-time golfers are embracing the opportunity.
“It’s actually been a crazy season because the rest of us are brand new,” Gonzales said. “I just think it’s fun because we’re all learning new stuff together. We’re all just going through this brand-new experience together.”
Gonzales is having fun competing in the new sport and is also making the most of one last opportunity to play a high school sport alongside her younger sister Marisa.
“I love it. It’s just fun because neither of us has ever done (golf) before,” Mariah said. “We just decided, let’s do it together and let’s get another sports season together.”
Mariah pointed out she is better than her younger sister, but Marisa quickly clarified “by just one stroke.”
The memories of the friendly competition with her sister are ones Mariah said she’ll take with her in the future. She plans to attend college to pursue a career in nursing and said she’s open to continue playing golf down the road.
“Mr. Terry’s always told us that golf is a lifelong sport,” she said. “So when you’re 50 or 60 years old, you can be on the golf course and hit a bucket of balls.”
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Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @chowebacca
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo East’s Mariah Gonzales swinging into gear in golf