Dakota Berry and Aaliyah Neal of Pace High School have made their plans following graduation by signing athletic scholarships. While Berry will play softball with FaulknerUniversity in Montgomery, Alabama, Neal has opted to play women’s basketball for Johnson &WalesUniversity in Denver, Colorado.
Berry believes Faulkner is an ideal place to play college softball, due to the size of the area and close location to home.
“I like the team and I think I will fit in pretty well,” Berry said.
While currently playing in her senior year with the Lady Patriot softball team, Berry expects to play a big role at Faulkner.
“I am going to have big shoes to fill,” she said.
Faulkner Coach Hal Wynn agrees, adding his team will soon lose depth on defense.
“We think she will really help us because we are losing a lot of our infield this upcoming year,” Wynn said. “We actually have three kids that we signed to play the middle infield.
While it is too early to see which players will start where, Wynn is impressed with her work ethic.
“We like the way she handles at bat,” he said. “She always puts herself in a good defensive situation where she knows what to do.”
Outside of softball, she plans to earning a degree in physical therapy.
While Berry chose to attend college in Montgomery, Neal decided to take her basketball skills to the MileHighCity.
The Arkansas native decided to attend the university while pursuing a degree in criminal justice.
“They have one of the best criminal justice programs around…they are really hands on so I got real excited because that is what I want to do and I got accepted to it,” Neal said.
Similar to Berry’s situation, Neal is entering an athletic program which will soon be in loosing depth on the roster.
“They are actually losing five seniors and their senior have scored the most points…so hopefully I can fill one of those spots and do the same,” she said.
Greg Gill, the head coach of the PHS Girls Basketball team, said Neal has contributed a lot to the PHS program “in every way imaginable.”
“(Neal) is the ultimate practice player, she does not take reps off, it does not matter if it is a scrimmage or a layup drill, she will give 100 percent,” Gill said. “In games, she is a quiet leader, she is not one to be loud vocally, but her play speaks volumes.”
This past season, Gill said Neal contributed at multiple positions for the Lady Patriots particularly on defense.
“When you are the best defender and you are not fouling out of a basketball game, that is saying something,” Gill said.
He said it will be interesting to see how she develops for the lady Wildcats.
“(Neal) can move well for her size, I think they are going to play her at a small forward position, so her outside game will have to develop more than her outside game…I think she is going to succeed and flourish in that.”
Regardless, Neal plans to bring the same contributing mindset to Denver.
“I just get the ball and go to work,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pace students sign softball, basketball scholarships