WESSON — Cobra senior Mallory Sanders signed with a D1 softball program in Wesson’s gym Wednesday morning. Sanders will further her softball career at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. 

A pitcher for Wesson, Sanders made the Mississippi Association of Coaches All-Star game last year and will return to lead the team this year. She started playing softball when she was seven years old. 

“It feels nice. I’ve put in hard work to get to this point,” Sanders said. “I have always loved softball. I wanted to keep doing it and grow the sport here at home.” 

Sanders said the speed and competitiveness is what she loves most about the game. Softball players’ kindness and sportsmanship is another thing she loves about the sport. She just loves everything about softball including the unexpectedness of softball. 

Farmville, Virginia is a 13 hour drive from Wesson. Sanders said she has been preparing herself for the new school. On their visit in Farmville, Sanders drove there and back to get a feel for the drive. 

“Longwood reminded me of Wesson. The campus is very nice. The coaches are kind and caring. They do a lot of servitude and are open to everyone. It felt like home,” Sanders said. “I’m prepared to go that far. My teammates will help me get through any homesickness there. Some of them are from California and have a further trip home. My parents and friends have always told me they are one call away.” 

She will study kinesiology and has dreams of becoming a physical therapist or athletic trainer. Sanders said she has been fortunate to not suffer an injury thus far in her career and would like to help others get back to playing. 

“Since softball has impacted my life I want to help people stay healthy and help them with any injuries,” Sanders said. “I want people to keep playing the sport they love.” 

In front of her signing table, a stick horse nicknamed Bolt caught the attention of visitors. Sanders said her sister, Madelyn Sanders, uses it as a mascot for her team. Since Longwood is the Lancers, Mallory was able to borrow it for signing day. 

Mallory is not done playing softball at Wesson yet. Springtime will be the start of her final season with the Cobras. In 2022, Wesson advanced to the third round of the MHSAA playoffs and reached the second round last year taking their final game to nine innings. They hope to make another deep run this year. 

“As a softball senior, I look forward to taking this team as far as we can go,” Sanders said. “Hopefully, we will win a state championship if we put in the work. We had a good three game series last year. We didn’t get as far as we wanted put we put up more of a fight. Uf we can continue that work we will get there.”