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APRIL 2021 23 and throughout the week when we went to practice." There was one element she did not enjoy. "I hated hitting; I only wanted to run the bases," she admitted. "My father and I would go into my backyard and practice hit- ting, and I would tell him that I just wanted to practice running the bases." The backyard wasn't the only venue at the Rayles' house in Herndon, Va., used for practice. "In the winter, it got pretty cold, so we would break out a space heater and go in my garage," Rayle remembered. "We'd have to pitch diagonally, but it still wasn't quite enough room. I was always breaking a light or throwing it against the wall, getting a little too close to the window. "But my dad would catch for me. Some- times my sister would throw with me. Or some of my friends from the house league that I played in would come to my garage and we would throw together. So we were a little bit creative with it." By the time she was 8, she had transi- tioned to a pitcher. When she was in middle school, she started playing travel ball and began to take the sport more seriously, much to the delight of her grandfather, Richard Ehlers. "My mom and all her sisters played softball growing up too, and my grandpa coached them," Rayle said. "He founded a girls' softball rec league in Sarasota, Fla. "My mom had batting cages in her back- yard growing up. I'm one of eight grand- children, and four of us are girls. He wanted one of us to play college softball so badly. All of my older cousins decided not to, so I was his last hope." Her grandfather, who passed away last year, got his wish, and was able to see her commit to UVA and then watched games her freshman year. "He was my biggest fan," Rayle noted. "My freshman year, he would come to my games and be shouting in the stands." He also watched on TV from his home in Florida as she pitched in a pivotal series against North Carolina State. "That was probably the best weekend of my first year, pitching-wise for me," she said. "We had to sweep to qualify for the ACC Tournament. I played in all the games, includ- ing starting in right field for one of them." The Cavaliers, buoyed by a 4 1 ⁄3-inning relief appearance by the up-spin pitcher in the finale, did sweep the series to earn their place in the championship field. Rayle and the Cavaliers carried that mo- mentum into the 2020 season and a new stadium in Palmer Park before the pandemic brought it to an abrupt end. Rayle returned home to Herndon, Va., after the sea- son was canceled, but found that the garage was no longer an option for her workouts. With most recreation facilities shut down, she found another creative way to keep sharp, along with a unique support system: her yellow lab, Jake, a pet she had since the second grade who passed away in August. "When the pandemic first started, we bought a portable net that I could pop up anywhere," she explained. "Most of the fields in my area — high school fields or any sort of public facilities — were closed off and totally locked to the public. "I had to find this rundown field that was basically just a patch of dirt. I would go to that patch of dirt and bring my callback net, and sometimes I'd bring my dog, and he would sit in our field while I would just throw into the net and do whatever drills I could with the things that I had." Now she's happy to be back in the circle at Palmer Park and looks forward to the day when she can have one other sup- port system surrounding her: UVA softball fans. Last year, Rayle ranked second in ACC and among the top 50 nationally with 9.0 strikeouts per seven innings, and was in the top 100 in three other pitching categories. PHOTO BY MATT RILEY/COURTESY UVA ATHLETICS "I was learning so much so quickly. It was a great experience. I grew a lot from just being thrown in there." RAYLE ON BEING VIRGINIA'S ACE PITCHER SINCE HER ROOKIE SEASON