Attending Emily Singleton’s college commitment to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College for softball last week were, back row from left, travel coach Andy Jolissaint, Brownstown Central coach Darren Bryant and sister Maddie Singleton; front from left are sister Erin Singleton, mom Jayne Singleton, Emily Singleton and dad Mark Singleton.
Dylan Wallace | The Tribune
Emily Singleton signs her national letter of intent to commit to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College for softball at Brownstown Central High School last week.
Dylan Wallace | The Tribune
Back row from left are Erin and Maddie Singleton and front from left are Betty Chestnut, Jayne Singleton, Emily Singleton and Mark Singleton all in attendance for Emily’s commitment to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College for softball.
Dylan Wallace | The Tribune
When Brownstown Central’s Emily Singleton went on a visit to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College a couple of months ago, she knew it was a place she wanted to be.
Singleton has a couple of friends she used to play travel softball with on the SMWC roster, and that’s how she got introduced to the program.
After her visit, she knew she didn’t want to visit any other colleges.
“As soon I was there, I knew I wanted to go there,” she said last week. “It just felt like home when I was there.”
Singleton officially signed her national letter of intent to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods last week at Brownstown Central High School.
Joining Singleton for this special moment were Brownstown softball head coach Darren Bryant, travel ball head coach Andy Jolissaint, her mom, Jayne Singleton, her dad, Mark Singleton, her grandma, Betty Chestnut, and her two sisters, Erin and Maddie Singleton.
“I really liked how small it was and that in my degree, it’s really small and I’m going to get a lot of one-on-one time with the professor,” Emily said.
In addition to playing softball, she plans to get her degree in exercise science. After undergrad, Singleton wants to go to graduate school for physical therapy. It’s a profession she has wanted to do for quite some time.
“I’ve always known I wanted to do PT,” she said. “One of my cousins is an OT (occupational therapist), and this summer, I shadowed her and other physical therapists, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
Singleton is a multi-sport athlete at Brownstown Central, fresh off of a fall volleyball season in which she helped the Braves win sectional and advance to regional.
But despite three straight sectional titles and even a state championship in 2019 playing volleyball, softball has always been Singleton’s top sport.
She started playing softball around 6 or 7.
“Softball has always been my favorite,” she said. “It has always been more of what I wanted to do.”
Her main position on defense is catcher, but she also plays some outfield.
Singleton hopes to crack the starting catcher role fairly early in her collegiate career, but she’s open to being versatile to help her team out.
“I’m going to have to work really hard, and I’m ready for it,” Singleton said. “I’m ready to be in a catcher role, but wherever they see me fit, I just want to get on the field.”
SMWC is coached by Jim Walker, and the team finished last season 19-18 but made a run in the postseason and finished as USCAA Small College World Series runner-up.
“He puts his players first and puts all of their academics first,” Singleton said of Walker. “He was very welcoming and understanding.”
Before Singleton gets to college, she’ll still have one more season at Brownstown this spring and one more travel ball season with the Indiana Gators this summer.
Jolissaint has played a pivotal role in getting Singleton to pursue playing softball at the collegiate level.
“It has always been back and forth,” Singleton said. “I’ve almost quit softball like three times, at least travel, because I was like, ‘I’m just going to go to a bigger school and get a bigger education for PT.’ Then Andy has been the one that always pushed me and wanted me to play softball and has really influenced me and really kept me going. Now, I’m going to. It’s really cool.”
Singleton is excited for her final season at Brownstown. Bryant has been an assistant for the past couple of seasons, but this spring will be his first year as head coach after longtime head coach Monte Ault retired this summer.
The Brownstown senior believes this Braves team can do some positive things this spring.
“I’m really excited,” she said. “I think Darren has a lot of new things coming. I think this will be a really good team. I think we’re going to go for a sectional championship.”
Singleton is happy to have her NLI paper signed, sealed and delivered because now, she doesn’t have to worry about where she’s going to be after high school.
“It’s so relaxing because now, I can just relax and play the game,” she said. “I don’t have to worry about trying to get coaches to come and watch me anymore. I can just play for me and for fun.”
A game she thought about quitting is now a game that is going to be a part of her life for at least four more years.
Softball has given Singleton so much, and now, she is trying to give back to the game.
“It has really taught me a lot of leadership, being a catcher and leadership skills,” she said. “I started giving catching lessons to younger kids. My whole life has been consumed by going to practice, giving kids lessons and doing all that. It has just been a huge part of my whole life.”