Cooperative Living November/December 2021 - 15

" It makes me happy to know that women's
and that opportunities are opening up for
ies
girls of all colors. "
to know that women's
popularity in general,
softball is growing in popularity in general,
re opening up for
" I wanted control and I was always
in control as a pitcher, " she says.
" I wanted the ball. "
Odicci, pronounced Odyssey,
was raised by her grandparents in
Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative
territory, and credits them with
supporting her every step of the
way. Her grandfather, Washington
Alexander, has physical proof of her
persistence.
" We have a well pump surrounded
by cinder block in our backyard, " he
says. " She and I painted some targets
on it to be able to practice her pitching.
She would be out there seven days a
week practicing. After school and on
the weekends, she would be out there,
practicing her pitching until dinner or
until it got dark out. She got really
accurate and really good at it. Some
of those cinder blocks are now dented
because she hit them with a softball
in the exact same spot thousands of
times. "
Her great-aunt, Doreen Alexander,
says Odicci always seemed to have a
penchant for sports.
" As far back as I can remember,
Odicci loved hitting a ball, " she says.
" As a little girl she'd hit stones with
a stick to pass the time while waiting
for a school bus. Her grandfather,
my brother, also loved baseball and
instilled some of that into her. He
helped her every way he could. He
traveled to all her games when she was
in school, and he and Emily [Odicci's
grandmother] did an amazing job
raising her. "
Mecklenburg County District 8
Supervisor David A. Brankley, who
coached Alexander on travel teams
when she was in high school, says
her talent stood out even then.
" She was a great athlete, heads above
all her teammates, " he says. " And,
ironically, she was only 14 and playing
with 18-year-olds at that time. Her
grandfather had to bring her to
practices because she couldn't drive
yet. "
As a member of the South Hill Dixie
Belles softball team, Alexander and her
teammates won the 2011 and 2012
World Series Championships. As a
member of the Park View High School
Dragons, Alexander was named to
All-Conference, All-District and AllState
teams for softball.
Brankley says Alexander's pitching
style was largely self-taught;
additionally, she was always the best
Washington Alexander shows the
indentations his granddaughter
made pitching against cinder blocks.
co-opliving.com
Odicci Alexander in high school as a
member of the Park View Dragons.
bunter on her team. Alexander learned a
lot of her pitching techniques simply by
watching YouTube videos, and then
mastering what she saw. " Anything
is possible to self-teach if you want it
bad enough, " she laughs.
Brankley called it an honor to
coach her.
" Only one in a lifetime like her
comes along around here, " he says.
" That's why when she was only 17,
Mickey Dean [then JMU, now Auburn
women's softball coach] saw her
at the Virginia high school state
championship semifinal in 2014, called
her the best player on her team, and
eventually made her a Division I offer. "
Brankley says that in addition to
being talented, Alexander was innately
kind and humble throughout her
softball career and always willing to help
her teammates in any way they needed.
Alexander's current agent, Terence
Tarrer of FSM Sports, agrees, referring
to his client as " such a good person
at heart who has done things the
right way. "
In August, the Mecklenburg Board
of Supervisors passed a resolution in
honor of Alexander's " spirit, calm
(continued on page 14)
November-December 2021 | Cooperative Living | 13
PHOTO COURTESY WASHINGTON ALEXANDER
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living November/December 2021

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