Mary Huff Signs for Softball Scholarship

By Susan Etxebarria

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — Softball star and high school senior Mary Huff was honored at a signing party, held at Okeechobee High School on Feb. 15. She and her friend and teammate, Lauren Throop, signed their letters of agreement for scholarships to play softball together at St. Petersburg College in St Petersburg, Fla.

“Mary is an awesome person,” said Kim Hardgraves, head coach of the Brahma Bulls softball team, the Lady Bulls. “She always goes above and beyond in whatever she does.”

“To earn a full ride scholarship is a big deal,” added Hardgraves. “Mary didn’t want anyone to give her college tuition, she wanted to earn it.”

And earn it she did. The cafeteria at the school was full of family, friends, supporters, coaches, and teammates, there to honor the achievements of both girls. Beaming with pride was Huff’s grandmother, Lottie Baxley of Brighton.

Huff had scholarship offers from other colleges to play ball including Florida State University. But these offers had her playing only one position and she wanted to play the whole game. She said that’s one reason why she chose St. Petersburg College, because they will let her both pitch and hit.

When Huff spoke at the signing party she explained both she and her friend and teammate Throop made a pact to go forward to play college ball together. With a telling smile she explained their choices.

“Lauren and I have always been best friends and we decided long time ago we would go together to UCLA, then it was Arizona, then it was Texas,” she said. “As we got older, we got closer to home.”

Huff was already playing varsity softball by her freshman year at Okeechobee High School. She is a four-year letterman. She has been a pitcher, played second base and was a key player getting the team to the Florida state tournament.

She was picked by The Palm Beach Post and the Treasure Coast Palm newspapers as one of the top high school athletes to watch this school year, according to her coach.

“No way is anyone going to stop that train because Mary’s going straight on,” said her pitching coach Heather Stillman. “Mary has drastically improved every season. Not just physically, but mentally. She has a level head on her shoulders and is a real leader of the team.”

A steak and rib dinner was cooked up dad John Wayne Huff Sr. and brother John Wayne Huff Jr. and The Seminole Tribe of Florida Education Department also presented a slide show.

“This is a very proud day for the education department,” said the department’s Acting Director Emma Johns. “Mary has always been an exceptional student both academically and socially. We’re not surprised she’s here tonight. She has always been one to set an example for our people.”

Mary’s dad explained how Mary got to where she is today. She started playing softball when she was 9 years old with the Okeechobee County Recreation Association (OCRA) and asked her dad if he knew how to play ball. Dad said he played ball in high school, loved the game, and he was encouraged to see how dedicated his daughter was, practicing pitching for hours and hours.

“I bought her four buckets of balls and bought her a canvas catcher. Then I had to buy a catcher’s mitt,” he said.

Together father and daughter practiced pitching, catching, how to throw a curve ball and how to drop a ball.

“After playing high school ball, Mary played travel ball during the summers so it was 12 months of the year,” said Huff Sr. “We were on the road a lot,”

Over the years, he and Mary’s mom, Vickey Huff, hardly missed a game. They took many trips with the Throop family becoming friends with them and the team.

“Both these girls are destined for great things,” said Coach Cary McCullough, an OCRA coach who coached the travel ball team. “Mary is ferocious. She always had an arm for the game and is the most competitive girl I have ever seen.”

Brighton’s Michele Thomas expressed everyone’s sentiment: “We are very proud of both of you girls and with the talent you are taking to that school, they are very lucky.”