Before senior pitcher Brooke Langeloh became the ace of the Chico State softball team, she started out like most athletes do, just a kid with a dream.

“I love telling this story,” Langeloh said when asked about the beginning of her love for softball.

It all started with watching her dad play slow-pitch softball and the college world series.

“I would just watch the college world series on TV, and I looked at my dad and told him, ‘I want to be that person someday,'” she said.

Her dad put her in little league and recreational softball and she fell in love.

Langeloh has had a great season so far for the ‘Cats, pitching 47.2 innings and only allowing 13 runs. She has only given up 28 hits in total and has struck out 46 batters.

Langeloh said she knew she wanted to pitch when she would watch the other pitchers in recreation ball.

“I didn’t want to be standing around. I kind of wanted to be the center of everything because that is where the action is,” she said.

Her dad would work with her on her pitching in the back yard until one day her coach decided to put her in the game. That was the beginning of her pitching career.

When asked about why she chose to play for Chico, she said it was the school that she fell in love with.

“My mom and I drove through town, I could see myself here. I wanted a more calm, relaxing environment,” Langeloh said.

She is originally from San Diego and said she felt that the smaller town and relaxing feel of Chico was what she wanted.

Softball has also helped her with time management.

“It’s difficult at times because we are constantly on the road, but I wouldn’t change it,” she said.

She said that procrastination was always a problem for her. “My dad will vouch for me for that,” Langeloh said. Softball has helped her build relationships with her professors which she feels has helped her with her future job.

Langeloh is graduating this spring from Chico State and her plan is to take a year off. She said she hopes to get more hours in to pursue her career aspirations of being a pediatric physical therapist since she is an exercise physiology major. She also hopes to apply to grad school somewhere in Connecticut.

“I got an opportunity to play in Sweden for their softball team,” she said. It is an international team that plays other countries and she would be pitching for them in the summer.

Whether it be possibly Sweden, or just in Chico, Langeloh achieves her childhood dream every time she takes the field.

Danielle Pubill can be reached at [email protected] or @daniellepubill1 on Twitter.