Waterfield leads Lady Cavs

It is hard to imagine the young players on Lakeland High School’s softball team remaining timid and inexperienced for long with Stasha Waterfield on the roster.

The Lady Cavaliers’ star junior catcher/shortstop has provided a remarkable example for her teammates to follow, even more so lately, and her recent offensive heroics led to her becoming the Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.

“Offensively, she’s been on fire,” Lakeland coach Cara Byrd said. “She’s been the spark for our team.”

Waterfield went 4-for-5 including a solo home run in the Lady Cavs’ 12-2 win against host Denbigh High School on May 5. The day prior, she helped her team defeat host Phoebus High School 15-4 by going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in.

“I was actually really proud of myself because those were really big games and confidence boosters for my team,” Waterfield said.

Byrd said, “Defensively, with her stepping up and volunteering to catch, she’s been doing a phenomenal job back there, and it’s really helped us out a lot.”

Waterfield had been established at shortstop, but when the Lady Cavaliers needed someone to take over at catcher on April 27, she willingly left her comfort zone for the sake of the team.

“She is definitely a leader, first and foremost,” Byrd said, referring to Waterfield’s performance, words and actions.

Waterfield recognizes leadership as her contribution because a lot of the girls on the team are younger.

“I play with confidence so they can follow,” she said.

The coach noted, “She is the one who is in the dugout pumping people up,” and she is the one helping her teammates settle their nerves on the field.

Byrd indicated she is also providing a good example academically.

Waterfield got her first exposure to the diamond when her dad, David Waterfield Sr., was coaching her brother in the Suffolk Youth Athletic Association. He would bring her to practice, where he said she thought she was his assistant coach.

“I played with the boys some,” she recalled.

Her dad said, “Of course, she got better by being around the boys and stuff. And so when it came time, we put her into softball.”

She started playing softball with SYAA at the age of 5 and continued on until she was 13. Since then, she has played for travel ball organizations such as Team Dynasty and Galaxy Fastpitch.

She has even guest starred with different travel ball teams like Orion Hunter and the Carolina Bandits. In these instances, she said a team may call her because they have seen her play and “they want to use me as their secret weapon for the weekend.”

Waterfield has also gained experience in other sports, including field hockey and indoor track, where she has competed in sprint relays and the shot put.

She would not designate any of the sports she plays as her favorite, but her college athletic plans are taking shape.

“I have a scholarship for field hockey in the works now,” she said, adding that she might try to walk on for softball.