Oxford varsity softball captain senior Ella Pace officially committed to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s softball team on Apr. 3, surrounded by her coaches, teammates, and student body.
Having begun her softball journey at the age of five in the recreational Cypress Girls Softball league, she traces her passion for the sport to between ages eight and nine, when she began to play travel ball: the softball equivalent of club sports.
Pace joined Oxford Academy’s softball team during the pandemic year of 2020-2021 as a freshman. The team would wear masks and drive straight to practice after online school. Despite unfamiliar and slightly awkward beginnings, Pace reflects on the positive environment that OA softball has provided her over the years.
“I’ve been on several travel teams that have been very competitive and very cutthroat– but I think softball here’s not like that,” she said. “We’ve definitely improved and become a more competitive team, but because people weren’t into this cutthroat atmosphere, it’s been a really positive experience.”
Ella, along with her co-captain of the past two seasons, Monique Rojas, particularly stood out to their team’s head coach Bob Whitney during their sophomore year.
“She’s all about softball […] always has been. [Her] techniques and the way she plays the game is just right all the time […] she doesn’t make mistakes [because] of her longevity and because she’s been playing since she was eight years old,” Whitney said.
He recognized not only their extraordinary skills in the sport, but their outstanding leadership and attitude on the field.
“I have a pretty high standard for captains; for our first eight years here at OA, we hadn’t had a captain because we hadn’t had a girl who fit my standards,” said Whitney. “Mo and Ella had natural leadership in them– even as sophomores, the girls followed them and tried to emulate through everything that they did […] they were always at practice; first girls on the field, last girls off the field. They always worked hard– they were the epitome of what I felt a captain should be.”
Over the course of her athletic journey at Oxford Academy, Pace has received numerous accolades, including MVP recognition on varsity softball as well as the OA girls’ varsity basketball team, on which she played for her first three years of high school. She was awarded First Team All-League for her outstanding performance over the 2023 softball league season. With an impressive grade point average (GPA) of 4.5, Pace was named Oxford’s 2024 Scholar Athlete of the Year for her excellence in both academics and athletics.
With high school coming to an end, Pace is looking forward to entering a new chapter of her athletic and scholarly journey at MIT in the upcoming fall semester, as she intends to major in political science or economics while playing with her new team.
“The first practice is in September– pretty much right after I get on campus,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a group of players who are a lot like me; focused on softball but also academically motivated and excited to be there. I’ve already met the coach…I know she’s great…I’ve already made a group chat with the other players…I’m really excited!”
