Livy Schiele has been playing varsity softball since her freshman year. At the end of each season on senior night, the seniors are asked to give a speech about their experiences.
Now a senior and among the most decorated softball players in California and the San Diego Section, the Auburn-bound Schiele got her turn.
“When I was giving my little speech, it hit me that I was really leaving, that this is happening and in a few months I’ll be out there,” she said. “And it was just crazy.”
Schiele, from The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, Calif., continues to climb the career record books in the San Diego Section as her school heads into the third round of the playoffs.
Here is where she currently stands:
- 203 runs, first
- 200 hits, third
- 48 doubles, third
- 22 triples, second
- .578 average, fourth
- 106 stolen bases, fifth
So why has she had so much success?
“I think just playing since I was little and just staying focused through it all,” said Schiele, chosen to the American Family Insurance ALL-USA TODAY Preseason Softball Team in March. “I’ve had softball be my No. 1 priority and haven’t drifted off so I think that’s the biggest thing.
“So many people are athletic. So many people are great at this sport. I think just being committed to the sport has helped me.”
That commitment is a family affair. Her father Art has been her coach for 11 years through rec leagues, club and high school. The end of her high school career will be the end of her dad’s formal role as coach as Livy is moving to a different club program this summer before heading to Auburn.
“This is our last season together so it’s kind of sad, but his being with me every step of the way really impacted me a lot,” she said. “Having him there throughout the whole thing has made it a lot more special. He’s been the one motivating me the most, so I definitely wouldn’t be where I am without him today.”
She says dad is also the one keeping track of the stats and records in his role as her high school coach.
“I never really looked or never really paid attention to it because personal achievements are great, but I just play for the team and play for the wins,” she said.
The next chapter comes in Alabama when Livy enrolls at Auburn. She won’t attend summer session in order to play club softball and will head to campus Aug. 15 for the fall semester.
She committed to Auburn as a freshman, and despite other offers since, she has remained true to the Tigers and the coaching staff since. Her initial contact with coach Clint Meyers came when Meyers was still at Arizona State in 2013.
Meyers arrived at Auburn the following season and has taken the team to back-to-back College World Series and has the Tigers in the Super Regionals this season.
“My summer going into ninth grade, I went to an Arizona State camp, and I really wasn’t a big part of the recruiting thing, she said. “I just was going to the camp. I did really well there and it was the first time I really broke out and so those coaches – Coach Meyers and (assistant) Scotty (Woodard) – they were telling me that they were really interested in me.
“Coach Meyers told me he was going to leave but said he would stay in contact over the summer. I called him over the summer and they pretty much told me that they decided they were going to leave and they were going to keep recruiting me because they still wanted me to go to Auburn. They saw me at different tournaments and they asked me to go on visit. I ended up going on an unofficial visit that November at Auburn and then committed in December.
“Once I committed there were no other colleges because I was so in love with Auburn. I never veered off or anything. It was always Auburn from the start.”
While her recruiting process ended late, she has empathy for her high school classmate, Destiny Littleton, a McDonald’s All-American basketball player and the nation’s leading scorer. Littleton was a USC signee and got her release after a coaching change. She then signed with Texas.
“It’s crazy how we’re both All-Americans at the same small school,” Schiele said. “I think basketball is a little bit of a bigger sport in San Diego so she’s just been noticed a lot. It might be a bigger deal for her (to be an All-American).
“We’re really close and we hang out a lot. I’m with her like every day.”