The Sojourn Athlete of the Week, presented by Amplify Media, is Courtney Thomas, an outfielder for the IWU women’s softball team.
Thomas is a junior from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She attended Carroll High School. As the youngest of three girls, Thomas was always around the sports her older sisters competed in.
“I always went to my sisters’ practices, and I was just the younger child dragged around,” Thomas said. “I played volleyball and basketball, but mainly I was always at softball practice if I was doing something.”
Initially, there wasn’t an opportunity for Thomas to play softball at IWU, although she had chosen the school for her academics. She attended one final softball camp at IWU for closure.
“I was like, ‘God let (Coach Babinski) talk to me right when I walk in and tell me you’re not on the team or you are on the team,’” Thomas said. “I walked in, he pulled me aside and said, ‘here’s your spot.’”
Thomas is second on the team in batting average this season, hovering around .500. Due to inclement weather, many games have been postponed and rescheduled this season, but she and the Wildcats remain steady in balancing the changing athletic schedule with school.
“A lot of times it can become exhausting and mentally draining, because you never know what the next day is going to bring you,” Thomas said. “Our team is really good at realizing we can’t do anything about the schoolwork we have to come back to. Right now, all we can do is play softball.”
Freshman shortstop Whitney Waddell sees that steadying presence in how Thomas carries herself on the field.
“She’s such a sense of peace on this team,” Waddell said. “She’s a great, faithful, Godly leader.”
Thomas and the Wildcats are gearing up for the postseason, sitting at atop the Crossroads League with a 26-4 record in conference and a 36-6 record overall.
The Wildcats have six games left in the regular season before preparing for the Crossroads League Tournament, set to be played on the campus of Taylor University at Gudakunst Field, Tuesday, April 29 – Friday, May 2.
