Senior Spotlight: Jaycie Irish elevates those around her

Editor’s note: This article is part of a recurring series on local high school athletes who had their seasons cut short or canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

SANDPOINT — Before the softball season began, Jaycie Irish circled April 24 on her calendar. That date was set to be senior night for the team’s seven seniors.

It was a moment Irish had been looking forward to for years so when the season was canceled her spirits were undoubtedly shot.

Day-by-day Irish has slowly gotten through the pain of losing her final season and has now shifted all the drive she had to exceed this year into her softball career at Spokane Falls Community College.

It hasn’t been easy but Irish is doing everything she can to be prepared for her first practice at SFCC this coming fall. She has been hitting and pitching at Quentin Ducken’s house, an assistant coach on the JV team, and can’t wait to take the field again.

“This season was going to be my season to finally prove to myself that I’m amazing at my sport,” she said. “I want to take the drive that I have now and really push it into these next couple of seasons [at SFCC] and just achieve everything that I could have this year into these next couple of years.”

For Irish, being stuck inside has been difficult because she’s so outgoing. Irish misses face-to-face conversations especially with her three close friends and teammates; Izzo Edwards, Brooklen Steiger and Abigail Hendricks. They have been there throughout Irish’s softball career and she’s grateful she got to spend the past three years with them.

“Knowing I have those memories with them means a lot to me,” she said.

Irish caught the bug for the sport early in her life. She grew up watching her dad and grandpa play on a men’s league softball team. As soon as she could pick up a bat and throw a baseball, Irish did and she played baseball in elementary school until she got old enough to play softball.

Irish poured all she had into the sport and developed a deep affection for pitching and belonging to a team.

“I knew from when I was old enough to think that was going to be the sport I loved,” she said.

The impact softball has had on Irish’s life is hard to put in words. She has dedicated countless hours during the offseason and after practices to improve, sacrificing time she could have been spending with her family and friends. But Irish wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

Head JV coach Leah Platt, who coached Irish when she was a freshman and sophomore, said the pitcher’s commitment to her craft and her teammates was unmatched. She was self-driven and the positive attitude she brought to practice every day was infectious among her teammates, Platt said.

“She’s a fighter,” Platt said about Irish.

Head coach Elizabeth Hawkins-Williams said Irish was almost a completely different person on the softball field. Off the field, Irish was sociable and energetic. On the field, Irish was focused and serious.

Hawkins-Williams said Irish had the ability to flip the switch with no questions asked. Some players let a bad day affect their performance on the field, not Irish.

“You couldn’t always tell what was going on off the field for her because when she steps on the field she is 100 percent game face,” Hawkins-Williams said.

Irish was an emotional leader for the Bulldogs and always set the tone.

“We had a game last season where we won just because of Jaycie,” Hawkins-Williams said. “Just because she was so determined emotionally to win that she brought the whole team along with her.”

Irish said Platt helped shape her into the leader she is today and taught her that it’s always good to have fun. But Platt said Irish is a natural-born leader who showed up as a freshman and immediately garnered respect from her teammates.

Platt has some fond memories of coaching Irish.

“We were always laughing,” Platt said. “I think I have pictures of her on the bus ride to state surfing in the middle aisle.”

Hawkins-Williams said Irish bought into the program at Sandpoint and had this uncanny ability to lift up and encourage others which helped make everyone on the team and the coaching staff better.

“Any coach that’s ever worked with Jaycie has loved their time with her,” she said, “and it’s because of all those blue collar attributes that she has and just her passion for the game and her positivity at practices.”

Irish has a pair of high school memories she holds close to her heart. The first came on April 17, 2019, when Irish crushed her first home run and helped spark a massive offensive outburst that allowed the Sandpoint softball team to take down Lakeland 17-10. The second came this fall when Irish helped the 2020 senior class complete a four year sweep of the annual powderpuff game.

At Spokane Falls, Irish plans on getting an associates degree in radiologic technology. After college, Irish wants to return home to Sandpoint and try to find a job in that field at a local hospital because she always enjoyed helping others.

During quarantine, Irish has been exploring her creative side. She has been drawing periodically in her sketchbook and is waiting for the moment when she has enough time to break into the painting supplies she received from the “Adopt a Senior” program her mom started on Facebook. She also enjoys wood burning (pyrography) in her free time.

Irish’s growth as a softball player has been tremendous, Hawkins-Williams said. Through sheer effort, Irish was able to work her way into the No. 1 pitcher role for the Bulldogs last year and had her sights set on a league MVP caliber season in 2020.

Platt expects Irish to have a similar impact at Spokane Falls.

“She’ll mesh well with whoever so, that’s why I think she’ll be such a great asset as a team member,” Platt said. “I think she’ll be one of those people that no matter what role you give her, she’s going to take it on and do it to the best of her ability.”

In her own words: Jaycie Irish

“I want to thank my family and friends for pushing me to work my hardest through my high school career. These past years have been the best years of my life and it’s hard to see them come to an end like this. I know I will not be able to achieve the goals I have set this year but I will work harder than ever to achieve them in my next two years of college softball. Corona can’t stop me.”