Short Stop Becca Schulte stands at the plate against Seward County at Adams Park in El Dorado on Monday, April 17. Butler swept the double-header improving their win streak to 80 consecutive games.
Lauren Hugo
Reporting Student
Butler Community College’s softball team won the 2016 NJCAA D1 National Championship last year. One of the players who helped make this happen is Becca Schulte.
Schulte is a sophomore at Butler. She is a friendly face and easy to talk to if you see her around campus, which should not be too hard since she is six feet tall.
Schulte was born in Wichita and raised in Andover.
At a young age, Schulte’s parents noticed she was a bit of an introverted kid. They encouraged her to make friends and try new things through sports. Schulte was able to choose which new activity she would take part in.
“I picked softball because my older brother [Zach] played baseball, and I wanted to be him when I grew up,” Schulte said. “I know that’s weird, but I followed him everywhere and even dressed like him.”
To Schulte’s older brother, she was a mini-me.
Schulte had also watched both of her parents play softball growing up. Each of them played for a league within church. Her dad, Matt Schulte, additionally played for the fire department’s competitive team and was really good, according to his daughter.
For Becca Schulte, it was an obvious choice to begin playing softball.
Schulte started with T-ball at only five years old. Once she turned seven, Schulte transitioned to competitive softball. She played for a team who called themselves the Red Hots.
After joining the Red Hots, she grew up playing softball as shortstop and other infield positions with most of the same girls from that team. Schulte continues to play softball on Butler’s team with Caylie Kifer, a utility player, and Reagan Wilson, who plays outfield.
Schulte’s summer league softball team has won state and nationals multiple times. They even placed top five out of 180 teams at 16 gold nationals, which are tournaments organized by the U.S. Specialty Sports Association and held in Colorado every summer.
While in high school, Schulte played softball for Andover Central’s team in the spring. She noticed the sport was treated a lot differently through the school.
“[In] high school, a lot of girls are there just for friends instead of caring about winning,” she said.
Schulte explained that summer softball is better because the players are all dedicated to winning the game, with the hope that scholarships will follow.
“Everyone is the same age, so you have more in common and get along better,” Schulte also noted about her summer softball team.
Schulte has put in a lot of time and effort throughout the years since she started playing softball. All the dedication has taught her major lessons.
“Softball taught me how to respect people and mostly myself,” Schulte said. “It’s taught me the value of hard work and that everything worth having in life is earned.”
Schulte says winning is important to her but that the relationships and memories she has made through softball are what matter most in the long run.
“It’s basically made me into the person I am today,” Schulte said.
As much as she loves softball, Schulte plans to discontinue playing the sport after college.
Instead, she plans on majoring in journalism and communications. With that degree she intends to report and cover stories on sports like softball.
If all goes well, Becca Schulte will be involved in the sport she loves one way or another for a long time.