When Alyssa Morris took over at Concord, Greenbrier East’s Josi Ervin was already sure she was going to be a Mountain Lion. After getting to know Morris she couldn’t sign her NLI fast enough.
Ervin, surrounded by friends, teammates and family, signed to continue her softball career at Concord University on Nov. 10 at Greenbrier East High School.
For the southpaw, it was an easy decision.
“It’s super close to home,” Ervin said. “My siblings are still in high school and middle school and it would be nice to come back anytime I want to and watch them play. Second of all I know so many people there and it’ll feel like home which is what I want. It’s small and it just felt like the right fit for me.”
Before Morris took over last season, Ervin was being recruited by the school. The change in leadership didn’t deter her in the least.
“I was actually being recruited by the last coach there,” Ervin said. “She left and I think she left a note about me and (Morris) contacted me and asked me to come up for a camp. I definitely felt very welcomed and it was a good experience. It was one of my first college experiences so it was nice knowing I was welcome and people were interested. I felt pretty secure. Nothing against the coach before, but I just liked Coach Morris better and I felt good knowing she was coming in and one of the teachers at the school actually played with her so I knew a little bit about her from that. I felt really good about her coming in.”
Ervin was a second-team all-state pitcher last year sporting a 1.85 ERA to go along with 102 strikeouts and a 10-6 record in 102 innings. She plans to play from the circle again once she reaches Athens but knows she has to improve to compete at the next level.
“Control, spin, placement and movement are the huge things for me,” Ervin said. “I definitely want to hit my spots because the hitters at the college level can bat so you’ve got to learn to spin it around the bat and put it where they can’t hit it or if they do hit it make it an easy out.”
On the academic side Ervin isn’t completely sure what she wants to study yet but plans on take a pre-professional path. Her true love though is coaching, something she’s always wanted to do.
“I think I’m going to do a pre-professional major and hopefully go on to medical school,” Ervin said. “I’m trying to figure out exactly what I want to do. I really want to be an orthopedic surgeon but with that I also want to coach so I’m still trying to figure that out because being an orthopedic surgeon isn’t going to allow me to coach and I’ve also thought about doing strength and conditioning stuff even if that’s not the medical field. It’s kind like anatomy and kinesiology stuff. I’ve thought about doing strength and conditioning and working with a team until I coach. Honestly if I could I’d coach a travel team in the summers when I’m home. I love the idea of having a little team.”
