SUFFOLK, Va. - Suffolk native Reese Byrd accomplished one of the hardest feats in softball... and didn't even know it.
"One of my like, good friends, Jessie had to come up to me after the game," Byrd said about the moment after she threw a no-hitter. "She was like, 'Do you know what you just did?' And I was like, what? And she was like, 'You just threw a no hitter.'"
Byrd was in the pitching circle for UNC Greensboro's 8-0 win over Delaware State when she threw a five-inning no-hitter. It was just the 13th no-no in program history and the first of the freshman's collegiate career.
"Everybody got really excited for me," Byrd said. "And I was excited. It was it was cool."
The excitement came from back home in the 757 as well, Byrd receiving plenty of congratulatory texts from those in Hampton Roads who helped shape her as a softball player.
"My travel [ball] and school in Virginia definitely, like, helped me a lot to get here," Byrd said. "I definitely couldn't have done it without the people I had. And they're still so supportive of me, even like here, like everybody texting me, every coach I had, some of the players I played with.
"They play a big role in my success."
Success that's carried over to the college level. As a freshman, Byrd has a 2.89 ERA and 39 strikeouts through 63 innings.
Although, while it seems as though the transition from high school is one that Byrd's handled with ease, it was a big adjustment.
"It was it was a lot different than high school for sure. At first my body was tired all the time, like when we were doing conditioning and weights and then practice all the time in the fall," Byrd said. "The transition was hard on my body, but I think I've caught up now."
Now that she's caught up, she hopes to replicate some high school postseason success. At Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, Byrd won two state titles. Now, she strives to not only win a conference title, but make some Spartans school history in the postseason as well.
"I want to win a game in [NCAA Division I] Regionals for the first time."
