Abby Horton learned about how important she is to the Shepard softball program this past spring.
It happened when a freshman player approached her during tryouts.
She said, ‘You are so good — I really want to practice with you,'” Horton said. “So we went up to a local park and worked on front toss and being confident at the plate.
“It’s really cool to be seen as a role model. I’m really humbled by it. I like that I can pass on things I’ve learned over the years and instill a work ethic that not everyone has.”
Abby Horton is a kid who deserves to live out her dreams. And let me tell you, she has some really big ones.
After the shortstop/third baseman spends her senior season helping the Astros go as far as they can in the state playoffs, she’ll take her leadership abilities overseas.
The Illinois State commit will be traveling to Ireland. She’ll be a member of the Irish national softball team that will be competing in the European Women’s Championship in the Czech Republic.
“I talked to the coach a few months ago,” Horton said. “He was really excited. He was like, ‘We have some good players and I feel like we can really do something special.”
How special? Well, success at the European Championship would be nice. But the long-range dream is taking Team Ireland to the Summer Olympics for the first time.
Sadly, softball won’t be a part of the Paris Games in 2024. But there is already a big push for the sport to be reinstated for the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
“It was disheartening but not surprising,” Horton said. “It’s not the first time softball has been taken out of the Olympics. It is sad, especially with how big it was this summer.
“But it’s not a dead dream. I mean, 2028 is definitely a possibility. I would absolutely love to go and play for Ireland. I know it would make my grandpa really proud.”
Michael Athy, her grandpa, is another mini-story. I’ll get back to him later.
Horton was noticed this summer when she played at the Triple Crown International Challenge in Colorado. The majority of the players were Americans who competed on teams representing their nationalities.
“We did pretty well,” Horton said. “For a group of kids who had never played together and never even met, it was really exciting, We held our own against the Canadian team and the Greek team. We ended up getting knocked out by Cuba, but they were stacked.”
Meanwhile, Horton was already drawing attention 4,000 miles away. Before the tournament, the coach of Ireland’s national team sent her a direct message on Twitter.
“He said, ‘Hey, we’ve had you on our radar,'” Horton said. “We want to know if this is something that can happen.’ I said ‘yes’ and we set up a Zoom meeting. We talked for about two hours. I showed him some film from this past fall with travel. He extended me a spot.”
To say the least, she’ll have a fan in Shepard coach Kelsey Clifford.
Horton has always been an all-star in Clifford’s eyes. And with good reason.
As a freshman, Horton made the all-area team. This spring, she was off the charts, batting .533 with 45 runs, 22 steals, six triples and 29 RBIs. She just had a presence, both at the plate and on the left side of the infield.
“Abby is our grit,” Clifford said. “She’s our hustle. She’s feared. She’s been in the leadoff position. You’ve seen her in the three-spot. She’s just so flexible.
“In her younger years we saw her in center field because we needed the speed. Her junior year at shortstop, she showed a lot of heart and a lot of hustle.”
Let’s get back to her grandpa.
Michael Athy died in 2015. He never saw Abby play in high school. But he was quite a fan in her younger days.
“He came to all of my Palos rec stuff,” Horton said, smiling. “It was hard to understand him because he had a really thick, Irish brogue. He would always ask me how baseball was going.
“I correct my other grandpa when he says baseball, but I never corrected him. I knew what he meant.”
Straight from the heart.