JCSU's Stacy Peralta Has Taken Unconventional Path to International Opportunity
JCSU Sports Information
Charlotte, N.C. (May 14, 2015) –Johnson C. Smith University senior
Stacy Peralta didn't take the conventional approach to becoming a successful softball player. Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., there were not a plethora of opportunities to play softball, particularly for a daughter of working-class Hispanic immigrants. Her father is from the Dominican Republic, her mother from Puerto Rico.
"I was the only girl and youngest in my family," said Peralta. "My parents were hesitant to let me go out to play in the alley with my three brothers and the neighborhood kids when I was younger." Rarely having the opportunity to play outdoor sports in a neighborhood that had limited facilities, she grew up as a cheerleader. "I actually was a cheerleader as a freshman in high school," she said.
During the fall of her freshman year, she was coerced by a coach to come out for preseason softball conditioning. "I went out one time," she said. "I hated it and didn't consider playing after that."
As the season approached, the team was short on players and she reluctantly joined the team after being persuaded by a group of friends. "They had been playing softball since they were young, and I was out there as a legitimate novice to the game. I learned the basics, just like I would have learned if I had started playing tee-ball at a younger age."
She stuck with it and played the outfield, first base and started pitching in her junior year when the team needed a pitcher. "It took me awhile to get the pitching motion right. I rolled many balls across the plate and threw a number over the backstop." Throughout the summers and fall during high school, she started playing with a local travel team, coached by her high school coach and mentor Oggie Quiles, which helped her improve her skills.
During her senior year at Nazareth Regional High School, Peralta became the primary pitcher of record for the Kingsmen, but that did not translate into any offers to play collegiately. "I was not recruited at all. We played in a very weak league, and it did not attract a lot of attention from college coaches."
Toward the end of her senior season, her former coach sent some stats and other material to the former coaching staff at JCSU. They were intrigued and decided to offer her a spot on the team. "I had never been to JCSU or Charlotte before and my parents were very hesitant for me to come so far from home to go to college." She never made an official visit and had never been to North Carolina before she walked onto the JCSU campus in the fall of 2012.
All of her hard work playing at JCSU has paid off, as she was invited to join Competitive Edge International (CEI) to go on a faith-based mission trip to East Asia from June 29-July 26, 2015. CEI is a sports ministry started in 1997 to promote Christianity through sports. The organization has focused its efforts on Christian outreach in more remote areas of the world.
Excited about her upcoming opportunity, Peralta said that being able to continue to play the game she has grown to love in her post-college career is a blessing. "I'm really grateful for the opportunity to play overseas. It will be a great experience to play against international competition while also spreading the word and work of Jesus Christ."
JCSU head softball coach
Mark Raley is extremely proud that she will continue her playing career. "She is a self-driven, self-motivated young lady," Raley said. "It is a great opportunity for her to represent JCSU and her family playing internationally and to help spread her faith. As a coach, it is a great honor to see a player this passionate about the game, and I know she will represent our program and our university well."
Peralta also said that she uses the game to get through the tough times of everyday life and being away from her family. "The softball diamond is my sanctuary," she said.
Peralta will graduate on Sunday, May 17 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. Her plans are to begin graduate school in the near future to earn her master's degree in education and eventually become a teacher and coach.
