Editor’s note: This is a regular feature profiling senior athletes at Bryant High School.
Tori Hernandez
NAME: Tori Hernandez
PARENTS: Mona and David Hernandez
SIBLINGS: Jalen is 14 and Alyssa is 10.
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: Math
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? Shopping
FAVORITE FOOD: Italian
FAVORITE MUSIC ARTIST OR GROUP: Darius Rucker
FAVORITE MOVIE: Benchwarmers
FAVORITE TV SHOW: Pretty Little Liars
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A KID? I was a Barbies kind of girl.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? I’m going up to Philadelphia to attend Holy Family University and I’m going to double major in Criminal Justice and Psychology, and then go to law school.
OTHER THAN YOUR PARENTS, WHO HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE? Ken Cruz; he has been my hitting coach for five years and he was kind of like a father figure to me.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT SOFTBALL: The unity of it, the trust and family kind of idea that it holds.
POSITION: I play third and I’m also a utility player. I can play second or outfield when needed.
WHAT’S YOUR APPROACH AT THE PLATE? To hit, just do what I can to get on.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE SEASON SO FAR? It’s good. From what they say — I mean, I’m new — we’ve gotten a lot further than we did last year and everybody is doing real well.
WHAT’S BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT TO THE SEASON SO FAR? I like when (Coach Debbie Clark) does her little pep talks, at the beginning, when we in the locker room and no one else is there except for the players. She talks us through the game.
WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE TEAM TO BE SUCCESSFUL THE REST OF THE WAY? Just to continue to work together as a group, drama free like we have been.
TALK ABOUT YOUR GAME. WHAT ARE YOU MOST CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITY TO DO? Most of the time, I can trust myself not to strike out looking. I am the swing-at-the-first-pitch, if it’s anywhere near the plate, I’m usually swinging at it because I hate getting down in the count. So I trust my hands to get somewhere near that first pitch if it’s anywhere close to a strike.
WHAT DO YOU WORK HARDEST IN PRACTICE TO IMPROVE ON? Right now, it’d be batting.
AFTER YOU’RE THROUGH PLAYING SOFTBALL AT BHS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL REMEMBER MOST FONDLY ABOUT IT? The hard work that we have to do. The school that I came from, it was little bit more laidback. Here we go to J.J. (Meadors), we work out, then we come here and we have practice until 6. So, it’s the hard work aspect.
