Farmersville starting pitcher Jamie Varga is used to being doubted.

Standing at just 4-foot-10, she’s heard it all on the softball diamond about her size, but she refuses to let it hold her back. After being cut from one of the 12U teams on Texas Glory, her club team, she kept working until she’s now on the top 18U side in the club. In the games, she and her head coach Paula Wilfong have heard it from the opposition too.

“I remember a couple of years ago, her freshman year, we had an opponent laughing at her before the game,” Wilfong said. “The first three batters were giggling, and we beat them and she pitched so well. It never really dawned on me before, her size, but then on the field, so many people say it. She does such a good job of staying pretty even-keeled in the circle and outplays most of those kids.”

Varga, for her efforts, knows exactly what she’s going to hear on the diamond, but isn’t going to back down from an opportunity to prove her abilities, no matter the size.

“It’s definitely a motivating factor for me, but in a good way,” Varga said. “I know other players will come at me and say something, but I know I can show that anybody can be anything, no matter what they look like. You don’t have to be a certain build or look a certain way to play this game.”

Varga has continued to prove her doubters wrong along the way. As a sophomore, Varga won the District 13-4A MVP last season, helping the Lady Farmers to a district championship as the team’s starting pitcher and lead-off hitter. Prior to her junior year, she committed to play collegiate softball at Stephen F. Austin University, a Division I school with four championships on its resume.

Most importantly, her ability to lead the team on the field and in the locker room is what stands out to coach Wilfong. At most Lady Farmers’ games, you can see Varga at the end of the bench cheering on her entire team.

“She has always brought a ton of energy to the team,” Wilfong said. “As soon as she came her freshman year, it felt like the dynamic of the team changed and the culture changed. She’s always had the skills to lead and she’s always ready to cheer on her teammates and celebrate her team’s success.”

In one of the team’s most recent wins over Sunnyvale, Varga threw a no-hitter in an 11-0 Farmersville victory. With just one hit batter away from a perfect game (Varga thought she leaned into the pitch), it helped spark the team with one of their best performances of the season, which included three hits each from Bella Holland and Carleigh Deeds, and a home run from Destiney Madewell. Varga believes Farmersville is playing better softball of late, winners of their last three games after a district loss to Community moved them into second place.

“It helped me gain confidence [throwing a no-hitter], getting out of a little slump I was in to start the year,” Varga said.

While she occupies the top pitching spot on the teams most nights, Varga isn’t a natural pitcher, as she plays middle infield for her club team. When the Lady Farmers needed someone to step on the rubber, she was up to the challenge to help her team. She hadn’t pitched since she was 11 years old prior to her freshman season.

“I’ve got some really great teammates behind me helping me succeed out there, but it also took a lot of work on my end,” Varga said. “I practiced a lot of nights with my mom to get ready to pitch at the high school level, because I hadn’t done it for a while.”

While she wasn’t a natural pitcher when she got onto the varsity team her freshman year, coach Wilfong saw the qualities that could help her succeed in the circle, and approached her with the idea of pitching for the Lady Farmers.

“Her softball IQ is just off the charts,” Wilfong said. “I’ll run to her in the middle of the game for play calls or rules, and she’s usually right on things. She’s not afraid to tell me I’m wrong on something and the game just comes really naturally to her. She’s just a true competitor and doesn’t like being beaten and she brings that energy to the team. I don’t know that I ever dreamt she would be our ace, but she was working with Reese [Fetty], our former pitcher, and kept getting better each day.”

As the team continues its season, the Lady Farmers face a tough matchup this Thursday, April 6, when they host the Community Lady Braves. After Community defeated Farmersville earlier in the season, there’s now only one game difference that separates the two sides in the district title race. With both teams playing some of their best ball of late, the Lady Farmers likely need to win to clinch a share of the district championship.

“We just have to stick together,” Varga said. “We had to get back into the softball groove earlier in the season and after losing that Community game last time, nobody knows what’s going to happen next. I don’t think people are ready for what is coming next.”

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