Bridgeland defeated Langham Creek two games in a row after going down 0-1 in the best of 3 series. The Bears will now face Denton Guyer in the 6A state semifinals Friday at 7 p.m. in Austin at University of Texas' Red and Charline McCombs Field.
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Haylie Stum, a senior on the team, said you need to have drive to be successful. Haylie definitely has drive.
"When she's not hitting with her dad or going to lessons, she's practicing with us. I mean she doesn't stop. I don't even know if she sleeps," Bridgeland head softball coach Candi Weige said.
Haylie is not your average graduating senior. Actually, the only time "average" comes up in her vocabulary is when she's talking about her team leading .434 batting average or 6.7 grade point average. Her GPA is the top 7% in her class.
"I would come home straight from practice at 6 p.m., hop on my computer to work on my portfolio, or get in front of the camera to practice. Go to bed at midnight, wake up at 5 a.m., and do it all over again," Haylie said.
On the field, she is a right fielder and pitcher.
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Off the field, Haylie's a self-taught, one-woman production crew and accomplished journalist. High school football fans have seen her reporting from the sidelines for Bridgeland media and VYPE over the last two years.
"I think sideline reporting helps me inside the lines. It helps me understand the emotion and helps me handle it," she said.
Haylie's passion for story telling earned her Texas Journalist of the Year from Texas State Journalism Educators. She also finished as a finalist, one of only five students for National Journalist of the Year from the Journalism Education Association. Haylie will be taking her talents to East Texas Baptist University next year where she will continue her softball career while honing her craft as a reporter.
"They're allowing me to do both and are excited I can do both. So, I'm so pumped to truly be myself. The dream is to convince young girls to get out there and use their voice," she said.
"Whatever she wants to do, she's going to be successful at it. She will be one of those success stories," Weige said.