The Grind, presented by Bank of Clarendon: Crestwood's Ransom prepares to take her skills to the next level

Crestwood senior Zaire Ransom is not your typical catcher. While some backstops have her talent with the bat, very few have the elite foot speed that also helps Zaire thrive in centerfield when she isn't behind home plate.

Zaire honed her skills on the diamond through a life built around softball. Her entire family is passionate about baseball and softball. Her dad, Maurice, played baseball in college and passed that love to Zaire. As soon as she picked up a bat and glove, she was hooked and developed into an athlete with enough talent to take her skills to the next level at Fayetteville State University.

While Zaire was blessed with natural athleticism, her career will continue because of an intense work ethic and drive to improve.

"Zy is one of those kids who is very coachable. She never misses a practice. She's another one of those that fell in love with it, and she would run through a wall for a coach. She gives it 110% and is just tough as nails," said Phil Parnell, who has coached Zaire since she played rec and youth travel ball all the way into high school, where she played for his Sumter Patriots American Legion team. "She's one of those kids, as a coach, where if you have nine or 10 players like her, you'd be really good. She's always been an athlete as far as the speed part, but she has the work ethic and the attitude and the drive to always want more."

LEARNING THE GAME

While Zaire was born with the ability to run like a gazelle, she's the first to admit that softball didn't come naturally to her in the early days.

"I started off, I was not good," Zy admitted. "I had to learn how to do things the right way, so (my dad) worked with me a lot and taught me a lot about the game."

Maurice hoped his daughter would quickly catch the softball bug. He played in college at Voorhees and was raised in a household that lived and breathed baseball and softball.

"It was something I was around basically day in and day out as a kid, so I tried to keep the tradition going with my kids," Maurice said. "Put them into a sport, see if they love it and Zaire loved it, so we stuck with it."

At an early age, Maurice saw the stubbornness that would make Zaire an excellent athlete. Even as a small child, she refused to let the bumps and bruises get in the way of her success.

"I used to take her in the yard and play catch with her, and one day I hit her in the eye, and I was like, 'Uh oh, it's over. She's not going to do it anymore,'" Maurice recalled. "But she cried for a little bit, wiped her tears, and then just kept going. That showed me she was tough and had the drive for the game."

When she was 8, Zaire started playing Parks and Rec ball. That's when she first started working with Phil. He still recalls the practice where the lightbulb clicked on for Zy.

"I can remember we were practicing out at Bobby Richardson on Field 4, and I was pitching batting practice," he said. "Zy came up to the plate, and she was swinging and missing, wasn't hitting the ball, so I spread out her stance a little bit, and she started making some contact. I think that's when she fell in love with softball."

As she grew up, Zaire moved behind the plate almost out of necessity. She shared a team with her future Crestwood teammate, Maliah Wright, and the rest of the team's catchers were struggling to keep up with her velocity and movement.

"Her cousin, Maliah Wright, was pitching and they didn't have anyone else that could catch her, so they tried Zy back there," Maurice said. "Zy caught her that whole season, and that's where she fell in love with wanting to play catcher."

Like in her earliest days in softball, catching came with some challenges, but Zy refused to back down.

"When she started catching, we used to go to the field and I would throw balls at her to teach her how to block them. She struggled," Maurice recalled. "I was always tough on her but, at the same time, that was my baby girl. When it got tough, I was like, 'Zy, I don't think you really want to do this.' And she looked at me and said, 'No, Daddy, I do, let's keep going,' and she kept going until she got it."

Zaire wanted to be good behind the plate because the position scratched an itch only catching could.

"A lot of people think it's scary. I don't think it's scary; I just like to have control. I can see everything, so I can be a leader and tell everyone what to do," Zy said. "Once I got back there, I didn't want to stop."

WORK ETHIC

As Zaire grew up, she started playing on the travel ball scene and continued to improve. She learned at an early age that softball is a game that is built around failure. Even the best hitters get out more often than they get on base; the key is how you respond to that adversity.

"I really had to learn that because I was a person that would beat on myself when I messed up," Zy said. "I hate messing up because I know I can do better, so I had to tell myself it's OK, it's going to happen, you're going to make a mistake, you're not perfect. I had to come to my senses about that and let myself know it's going to be OK."

She really credits three coaches for helping her develop through these stages. Her dad laid the foundation and has been a constant cheerleader and motivator from the very beginning. Phil took the baton and helped her sharpen the tools in her toolbox. Jessica Stiles helped her learn those important lessons about learning from mistakes.

Phil loved the opportunity to work with Zaire over the years because of her willingness to learn. She's like a sponge on the diamond; she wants to learn everything she can to take her game to the next level.

"It's just her attitude. Some girls don't take coaching well, but Zy is one of those girls where you can tell her something and she picks it up," Phil said. "Some kids, you can tell them 1,000 times and it doesn't sink in, but Zy is one of those athletes who picks things up and she'll work at it to get better. And she'll work at it not just at practice, but she'll work at it with her dad and get better at it."

One thing Phil couldn't teach Zaire was speed. She's a menace on the base paths, which can be a nightmare for opposing pitchers who are constantly looking over their shoulders to see if she's on the move.

"That's one thing you can't coach is speed. Either a player has it or they don't, and it's really hard to improve," Phil said. "Zy has been blessed to be able to have that, and she's honed her craft and learned how to be a good base runner and used it to her advantage."

Zy traditionally leads off and typically finds her way to first base. Once she's there, Zy is going to run until you make her stop.

"You have to get me for me to be scared of you; I'm going to test you, so if you're not going to come after me, I'm going to just run," Zaire said after finishing her senior year with 27 steals on 28 attempts. "I'm going to keep going until you get me out."

Zaire is typically on first base because she's really developed with her bat over the years. This past spring, she hit at a ridiculous .703 clip. Zy smacked nine doubles, three triples and three home runs while scoring 24 times and driving in 14 runs, all of which led Crestwood. She has an on-base percentage of .776 because she's also walked eight times and was hit by pitches four times.

"I don't like to strike out," Zy said, "so I'm going to find a way to put the bat on the ball or you're going to walk me."

Zaire also picked up other sports as she got closer to high school. While basketball and volleyball are secondary sports, she uses them to improve on the diamond.

"Each sport taught her something different, whether it was seeing the ball, defense or footwork or speed," Maurice said. "All of those sports taught her something."

While Zy has a collection of special athletic gifts, Phil's favorite memories of coaching her were the smaller moments.

"Zy was always my catcher, so when I'd hit a lot of fungoes and get a little frustrated, she was kind of my sounding board and she didn't go back and tell the other players what I was saying and all that," Phil joked. "Zy has a special place in my heart. She's been through a lot with me, and I appreciate it. I'll definitely be one of her biggest supporters."

BALLING WITH THE KNIGHTS

Zaire has played varsity at Crestwood since she was in the eighth grade, though her time with the Lady Knights came with some highs and lows.

Crestwood's best season during her time with the Lady Knights was her second year. During that freshman season, she was coached by current Lakewood athletic director Donald Flippin. Forming a dynamic duo with Wright, Zy and the Lady Knights earned Crestwood's first playoff appearance in more than a decade, finishing 11-9 while earning a playoff win over Battery Creek 14-0.

"We had a really good year, and we actually went to the playoffs for the first time in like 15 years. That was a really good experience," Zaire said. "Even though we went to the playoffs and lost in the second round, it was OK because we made a big milestone in the Crestwood program."

After that freshman season, Wright transferred to Gray Collegiate and the Crestwood program couldn't carry that momentum. Zy has played five years of high school softball for four different coaches. While she has enjoyed her time with each of them, the constant change made it difficult to build momentum.

"Some coaches teach you this and some coaches teach you that, so it's hard to put it all together," she said. "That's kind of challenging but, other than that, it wasn't really bad. I love all of the coaches who coached here at Crestwood."

The Lady Knights have struggled to win ever since that playoff victory, but Zaire takes great pride in helping mold her teammates on the diamond. That's one of the reasons she loves being the leadoff hitter for Crestwood. She likes to set a tone her teammates can follow for the rest of the night.

"I have to be the leader, I have to start off the game so my teammates can see that they can do it," Zaire said. "I always feel like I have to hit the ball because, if I don't, it'll make my other teammates feel like they can't do it because they're looking up to me."

PLAYING IN COLLEGE

While Zaire has played her last game for Crestwood, her softball career is far from over. She'll take her talents to Fayetteville State University in the fall after connecting with the program last year.

"(Recruitment) didn't start until last year. I played in showcase tournaments and a couple of coaches have talked to me, but only one school took it far, and that's the school I'm going to," Zaire said. "I'm going to Fayetteville State University; I'm very excited to make that jump. I plan to major in nursing, so with their softball program, they're going to work with me to major in nursing and play softball, because that's really hard to do at the same time."

Splitting time as a nursing student and a softball player will be a tough task, but Zy sees it as the natural progression of her life on and off the diamond.

"I think I'll be OK because throughout my life, I've always been busy, I've always been on the go doing something. I have to be doing something. I feel like I'll be able to balance it," Zaire said. "I just feel like being in nursing school and playing softball will keep me on the go, and I'll be able to do that because I've really been doing that my whole life."

After seeing what it takes to be a college athlete, Maurice was thrilled to see his daughter continue to follow in his footsteps.

"It's a blessing and an honor, especially your oldest child being able to follow in your footsteps," he said. "It's just a thrill."

Her future at Fayetteville State helped Zaire continue to develop this spring. She put together her best high school season to date because she refused to stagnate.

"You can always be better, so I wanted to keep trying to make myself better for the college experience," Zy said. "When you get to college, it's going to be a whole different ballgame, so I wanted to prepare myself for that."

Every coach dreams of the day when their athletes earn the chance to compete at the next level. Phil has been able to coach an incredible number of athletes over the years, and seeing athletes like Zy get this opportunity makes all of the hours of coaching worthwhile.

"As a coach, it makes you feel like you didn't just waste your time when you have girls that go into high school and do well. When you have girls that you coach who decide they want to play college softball, it makes you feel good that you helped them reach that point to get to college," Phil said. "When I first got into recreation in 1989 in Darlington, I wanted to give something back because of all the volunteer coaches who helped me growing up. I wanted to give something back and be one of those guys that helped kids. I've coached baseball and I've coached softball, being in recreation I've coached soccer, football, basketball, you name it. It just makes life a lot easier when you have kids like Zy that work hard and have great attitudes. I don't think I've heard her say anything negative about another player or coach; she's a great teammate, and she comes to work."