Coming into her freshman season at Fullerton College, Taylor McCall couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t playing softball.

Like many Hornets, McCall eagerly anticipated the start of her college softball career at the beginning of 2020.

That is until the sports world shut down almost a year ago.

In March of 2020, Fullerton College and its athletic programs shut down due to the rise of COVID-19 and health concerns for the safety of student-athletes, coaches and everyone in the community.

“It’s definitely different and not something I am used to, but I was able to get onto the field a couple of times a week with friends or even my dad,” McCall said.

During high school, McCall was a standout on the field as well as an Academic Player of the Year.

A hard-hitting first baseman, she has been playing softball for 14 years.

As an incoming freshman during a pandemic, meeting new teammates and getting to bond with her team was quite a challenge.

Fortunately, McCall knew a lot of her teammates through mutual friends and through travel-ball.

Socially distant and wearing masks, the team was able to get together a few times during the fall at a local park just to get some time together as a team.

“Just to see each other and meet the team was great. Especially as a freshman, it wasn’t easy because we don’t know a lot of people and haven’t been in class or on campus yet. Right now it’s really just my softball friends,” McCall noted.

As a 6-foot left-handed power-hitting first baseman, Taylor will bring power, defense and a positive attitude to the Hornets.

Taylor credits her father, Rod, who was the first baseman himself and played 12 years of professional baseball, with helping to develop her skills as well as her love of the game.

“It’s really in my blood,” McCall added.

Without a field, gym or batting cages, Taylor and her teammates had to get creative to train and keep their skills sharp.

Taylor worked with her dad on her swing in the backyard hitting into a net or at a local park working on her fielding and defense.

“Every week during the fall we would send hitting and fielding videos for our coaches, so they have seen us since August, making sure our swing and fielding are being kept up,” McCall said.

The team also spent the fall using Zoom to have practice. Waking up at 6 A.M. twice a week, the team would do an hour of workouts followed by an hour of meeting with the team.

Now that softball returned, McCall is excited not only for the season but also to get to finally be on campus.

“We started practice last Monday [Mar. 1] and I am super excited just to have my first college season…we are sad that there won’t be fans this season, but just to be around the team building chemistry and building that bond with the girls is what I am really looking forward to, as well as playing for the first time in a year,” McCall commented.

While softball is her passion, McCall plans to transfer to a 4-year college to play softball and pursue a degree in criminal justice and hopefully a master’s degree. Her dream job is to work for the FBI.

Faced with a multitude of challenges, Taylor McCall was able to persevere with support from her family, friends and teammates and is ready to begin her career with the Hornets.

In response to the challenges she faced throughout the past year, McCall added, “If you stay positive in a negative situation, you win.”