The University of Arkansas’ Bogle Park will be Maggie Hicks’ everyday softball home in a few years. For now, she is enjoying her brief visits.
In Sheridan’s Class 6A state-championship-game win against Benton there last year, Sheridan’s Hicks was 3 for 4 at the plate. This year, the junior shortstop was 2 for 3.
“That’s huge,” Sheridan coach Tamara Strawn said. “The team feeds off her. She gets the job done. Pitchers cringe when she comes to bat, and we as a team are relaxed because she makes things happen.”
Hicks’ biggest hit of the day was a two-run home run for the Lady Yellowjackets that tied the game early
after the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
“Knowing it was a new game, I think it got everyone a little more excited and back into it,” she said.
Sheridan won the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when Nicole Thompkins, who reached first on a bunt, scored on a throwing error. Thompkins was mobbed at home plate as the game ended.
“It just felt so awesome because all of our hard work had paid off,” Hicks said. “There is no greater feeling than that.”
The hitting display Hicks put on in Fayetteville was the capper of a dominant season. She led the Yellowjackets with a .436 batting average with 11 homers and 24 RBIs. She stole 14 bases in 14 attempts.
For her efforts, Hicks is the Tri-Lakes Edition Softball Player of the Year.
“I go to hitting lessons every week,” Hicks said. “That hard work has paid off.”
But Hicks, a shortstop, has brought a lot more to Sheridan’s state-title runs than just a big bat.
“She is a defensive beast,” Strawn says. “She dives and pops off the ground like she is on a trampoline. She is also lethal on the bases. I don’t know anyone who can throw her out. By far, she is the best athlete I have seen.”
Up until a few years ago, Hicks played three sports. She gave up basketball but still plays volleyball in the fall and is a two-year starter. Still, it’s softball she loves the best. She started playing when she was 5 and has spent many summers playing on traveling teams. The day after the Yellowjackets won the state title, she had travel-team practice and played in a tournament in Shreveport, Louisiana, a week after that.
“I just love the game,” she said. “I love being outside and it being so pretty. I also really like the competitiveness. I like using the talents God gives me to give him all of the honor and glory. I feel like [the softball field] is a place I can do that the most.”
Before Hicks made her varsity debut, Sheridan softball hadn’t won a title since 1999. They had lost in the title games in 2014 and 15.
Hicks didn’t know what to expect when Sheridan routed rival Benton in the title game in 2016. She was more comfortable this year, which helped her deal with an early deficit and tight finish.
“I felt a lot more relaxed this year,” she said. “Just knowing how hard we have worked, I was pretty positive that if we gave it our all and left it all on the field, we would have a pretty good chance of winning. I was a lot more nervous as a sophomore. We knew what to expect this year.”
Still, experience didn’t make it any easier to repeat the state-title win.
“It is harder to win it the second time because after you win it the first time, you are kind of like, ‘We’ve got it,’ but you can’t go in thinking that way,” Hicks said. “Our coach kept putting that in our heads. She just kept on telling us to play our best and focus on each game.”
Now the program is on the cusp of winning three titles in a row with Hicks and a group of talented juniors returning.
“It is going to be a little harder for us because people are going to be coming after us even more,” she said. “We are going to have to work even harder.”
One thing Hicks won’t have to worry about next year is the recruiting process. She will sign with the resurgent Hogs, who played in the NCAA regionals this year, in November.
“I am so excited about going to the Razorbacks,” she said. “The coaches seem so great. I have met some of the players who will be there when I am there. I am so excited.”
And Strawn is excited that Hicks will be in Sheridan one more season, but not just because she is one of the better players in the state.
“I am honored,” Strawn said. “So many can learn from her, including myself. Her work ethic is rare. She never stops. She leads us before every game with a prayer, a sincere prayer. She truly gives all of the glory to God and has a heart of gold. She is humble and energized and always wears a smile.”