J.R. Tidwell/FCT Lindsey Jackson (center) signed with Calhoun Community College to play softball. Pictured with her are her dad Doug (left), her mom Nina (right), her high school coach Darit Riddle (top center) and her younger sister Leeah (top right).

Lindsey Jackson has known what she wanted to do for a long time. From the time she was eight years old, she knew that she wanted to play softball past high school.

“I love [softball],” Jackson said. “It’s my passion.”

Jackson, a pitcher and first baseman, finished her time with the Phil Campbell Lady Bobcats with a career batting average of .530, an ERA of 1.75 and many, many strikeouts.

Jackson’s years of hard work paid off when she signed with Calhoun Community College in December. Calhoun is a school known for its baseball and softball programs.

“She set this goal and worked at it from the time she was eight years old,” Jackson’s mother Nina said. “For her it was love at first strike.”

Jackson chose Calhoun over other schools because it is “close to home and has a good program.”

“I was very excited when they signed me,” Jackson said. “I turned down four-year [schools] to play there.”

What could make a player do such a thing?

“I love the coach there, Coach Keenum,” Jackson said. “She’s great.”

While Jackson goes on to play at the collegiate level, her high school teammates and especially her head coach will surely miss her.

“She is an awesome player,” Phil Campbell head softball coach Darit Riddle said. “She always had the goal of playing after high school. She worked on weekends to get better. It was a pleasure to have an ace pitcher like her, and you can’t replace that.”

“I would like to thank Coach Riddle, my team the North Alabama Kraze, Coach Bach and my parents Doug and Nina Jackson for helping me get here,” Jackson said.

Jackson has been an inspiration to someone close, her younger sister Leeah. She is following in her big sister’s footsteps and hopes to play college softball one day herself.