Although she is hanging up her cleats after this season, Vardaman’s Anna Beth Lucius found a place for herself among the collegiate softball ranks at Northeast Mississippi Community College.
Lucius was a member of the Lady Rams’ state championship team her senior year in 2019. She stated that transitioning to the college ranks took a bit of adjusting from her time in high school.
“It wasn’t much different playing at the college level, but then again it was,” Lucius said. “For me, it was still the game I grew up playing, but my coaches and our fans had way higher expectations of me since I was playing at the college level. But at the end of the day, I was just stepping on the field to win like always.”
Stepping away from the diamond after a year at Northeast and a lifetime in the game wasn’t an easy decision for Lucius.
“It was an extremely hard decision to make, and it took months of praying to decide,” Lucius said. “In the end though, I knew it was time to hang my cleats up. Even though it is sad and crazy to think I’ll never play again, I know I made the right decision for myself.”
Although this season was her last on the diamond, Lucius and her family have always been involved with the game of softball, including her sister Genna Grace Edmondson who also played at Vardaman and at the college level.
“Softball has always been a huge part of my family’s life,” Lucius said. “My family was a big part of my success in softball. Whenever I was a kid, I never went to a single game without someone there supporting me, and that continued all the way up until my college season. I wouldn’t be the athlete I am without my family.”
Lucius plans to transfer from Northeast, and although she is unsure of her next school destination, she hopes to major in communicative disorders and become a speech pathologist.