Lane signs her letter of intent, making her an MMC Laker.
BY MELANIE YOUNG
Grosse Ile High School senior Mackenzie “Mack” Lane has dreamed of playing softball at a college level since she was 12 years old. Now 18, Lane’s dream has become a reality, as she recently signed a letter of intent to play softball at Mid Michigan College in Mount Pleasant.
Lane began playing t-ball at age 7 and played baseball with her younger brother until she was 10. She began playing softball for the Grosse Ile Youth Recreation Association (GIYRA) in 2014 when the family moved to Grosse Ile. She has played travel softball for four years and her current team is the NWO Lady Irish.
Lane had to get creative with her recruiting efforts, as college athletic recruiting has changed dramatically during COVID. A senior starting catcher at Grosse Ile High School and four-year varsity player on the school’s softball team, Lane, like all other senior athletes this year, lost her junior season of her spring sport.
Prior to COVID-19, Lane was attending college softball camps at schools she was interested in. Without camps and games that bring exposure to high school players, Lane had to figure out a way to get noticed by coaches.
“I’ve been wanting to play at college for a long time,” she said.
She worked with a local recruiter who gave her a list of all of the college softball coaches in the state. She contacted coaches from Gogebic, Mich. in the Upper Peninsula all the way to Plymouth, Ind. She emailed videos and made phone calls. Her efforts were met with mixed results. She was told by many colleges that they did not have scholarship money available this year, because last year’s college athletes were given another year of eligibility due to the pandemic.
But Lane was undeterred.
“I want a coach to want me to play for them,” she said. She ended up with a few offers, including one from a college that wanted her, just from her video and phone calls, never having met her or seen her play.
That school was not the right fit, but she found what she was looking for in Mid Michigan College and Coach Greg Welch. She had attended a softball camp on campus and liked what she saw. She contacted the coach multiple times and went to the school for an official visit. On that visit, she was able to practice with the softball team and catch for all of the pitchers. She talked to Welch following the practice and he offered her a scholarship position on the team that day.
The Lane family held a signing event at their home in February for Mack and invited family and friends and former coaches. Welch, who had never heard of Grosse Ile before he met Lane, came bearing a Mid Michigan Lakers softball jersey. After the signing took place, Welch spoke about how Mack tracked him down to arrange a meeting.
“It’s a good thing to be persistent when you know what you want,” he said. She caught for his number one pitcher, and never missed a ball, and never complained, even after catching for an hour, “That’s all I needed to see,” he said.
He added that he travels a lot but never knew Grosse Ile existed. He said he never would have seen her if she hadn’t reached out to him.
Mount Pleasant is about three hours from Grosse Ile and Mackenzie said she is a little nervous.
“I’ve never been far away from home,” she said.
When she’s not playing softball, she enjoys spending time with her family, writing and art. She will major in journalism and is looking forward to the adventure that awaits her.
“I am excited to meet new people who want to do the same thing as me.”