Former Farmersville standout Callie Yellin stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the seventh inning as a pinch hitter.

Competing for Rogers State University, Yellin found a pitch to hit in the 5-5 game and drove it over the right-centerfield fence to win game one on May 30. She pinched hit in game two as well – walking and later scoring a run – to help boost Rogers State to its first-ever national championship.

“I asked my coach if I was going into hit and she told me yes,” Yellin said. “At that point, it felt like something overcame me. I’ve dreamt of that moment since I was a little girl and I knew it might happen, and I was so calm. I prepared myself for that moment my entire life and it felt great to come through.”

Yellin transferred to Rogers State after two seasons at Vernon College. She started 21 games this season and pinch-hit on several occasions, hitting .329 with 25 hits and her seventh home run in game one. She said the journey was long to the championship but well worth the wait to hold up the trophy.

“It was amazing, but it was also a grind the entire time,” Yellin said. “We were either playing or practicing all day long, so it was great to come away with the championship in the end.”

Yellin was accustomed to stepping into the box as a pinch-hitter before the at-bat but knew that it’s never an easy moment to try and come up with the clutch hit late in a game. Only two of her six home runs before that at-bat came in a pinch-hit role, but one was the game before against Cal State Dominguez Hills to advance to the finals.

“Being a pinch hitter is not easy,” Yellin said. “It sometimes hurts a player’s pride because you’re hitting in many clutch moments. I learned that the role is just as important as any other role on a team, and I’ve had a come to Jesus moment with myself that I was blessed with this role and I’m going to do it at 110 percent.”

Yellin learned to lean on her support system in Farmersville during her journey through junior college and to Rogers State. She said she got a lot of support from the community in her journey and was proud to represent the town of Farmersville as a national champion.

To read the full story, see next week’s issue of The Farmersville Times. Support your community newspaper for less than $40 a year.

By Kyle Grondin • [email protected]