Sophomore right-fielder Morgan Lowers put on an impressive offensive show against Deep Creek High School over a week ago to help lift her team and honor an injured teammate in a 9-3 victory that earned her a nomination for Player of the Week. Lowers and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy senior pitcher Devin Coyne each won the poll by receiving 318 votes apiece.

Lowers explained what led up to the Deep Creek game.

“My dad really gave me a pep talk before the game and was like, ‘Just have confidence and you can definitely do it,’ and I really needed that pep talk because I was really struggling before,” she said.

She said teammates and Coach Gabe Rogers helped her correct some things she was doing wrong on the field, and she ended up going 4-for-4 with a double and a run batted in. The game had been dedicated to teammate Eryn Haley, who had been seriously injured the game before by a ball.

“It just really worked that night because I really wanted to win especially because of Eryn and the situation we were put in, and then obviously, the night before that, when we lost terribly (to) Hickory. We needed to redeem ourselves, in my words, and so I think we did that.”

To chronicle the genesis of Lowers’ softball career, the story begins with her father, Mike Lowers.

“My dad’s been playing softball and baseball for 35-40 years, so I’ve always liked the sport,” Lowers said. “I’ve actually never seen my dad play, but he liked it, and I was like, ‘Hmm, I’ll give it a try.’”

Her dad had not pressured her to play, but he was happy to help when she expressed interest at 8 years old.

“I carried her up to Bennett’s Creek (Little League), and she played that year and she really liked it and got where she was really watching it on TV and all,” he said.

When she was 10, she moved to the Galaxy Fastpitch travel team, where her dad served as assistant and eventually head coach.

In December, she made a significant move in joining the Virginia Legends 18U Gold team.

“She went there because she was seeking more,” Mike Lowers said. “She wanted to be challenged and pushed to the next level to get better.”

Rogers, who has seen her grow as a player, suspected that she has college aspirations, noting that “she seems a lot more serious and focused about her training and how she plays the game.”

“Right now, I think I’m pretty positive I’m going to play (Division I),” Lowers said. “I like Florida schools a lot. I just like the warmness down there, but (East Carolina University) is a favorite and I like Longwood (University), I’ve talked to their coach at camps.”

For this year, her goals, no less ambitious, are to “be a leader on the team, even though I only am in 10th grade, just put my heart out on the field and hopefully get to districts and win districts and go to regionals, because I know my team can do it.”