We will be featuring members of our LaGrange College athletic family during Division III Week from April 13-19.
By Trevor Wenners
Assistant Director of Sports Information
NCAA Division III student-athletes are some of the most passionate people. This is because they are strictly playing for love of the game, not financial purposes.
As a result, the spirit of competition on Division III campuses is intrinsic and real.
This is one of the aspects that Sydney Hodorff '19, a standout on the LaGrange College softball team from 2016-19, enjoys most about the Division III landscape.
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| Sydney Hodorff has always been motivated inside the classroom at LaGrange. |
"Playing sports at the Division III level, without athletic scholarships, gives student-athletes a little more motivation on the field because your position is not guaranteed," said Hodorff. "That is always in the back of the student-athletes' minds and it motivates them to work a little bit harder and makes them enjoy playing the game a little bit more. There are some great ball players that we face at the Division III level and it is obvious that they could have played at a higher level. It is fun being able to compete against those players."
Hodorff was a driven student-athlete on the field and in the classroom. The four-year softball starter is currently pursuing a master's degree in strength and conditioning at LaGrange, while working as the graduate assistant of the Sport Performance Enhancement, Education and Development (SPEED) Center. She works as the head strength and conditioning coach for softball and men's and women's tennis, while serving as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the baseball program.
The Taylorsville, Georgia, native finished her tremendous four-year Panther career with 104 hits, 53 RBIs, 39 runs, 27 doubles and seven home runs. She appeared in 138-of-143 games and recorded 26 multi-hit games from 2016-19.
The motivated young woman hit the ground running as a rookie in 2016, appearing in 34 games. She maintained the second-highest slugging percentage (.471) on the team, while finishing in a tie for second with six doubles. During her sophomore season, she erupted with a 3-for-4 effort, featuring four RBIs, a home run, a double and a run, during a 10-2 triumph at Agnes Scott.
Hodorff received the USA South Player of the Week award on Feb. 19, 2018. As a junior, she recorded a career-high 31 hits, which were the second most on the squad. The 2018 Panthers compiled an impressive 9-5 mark in the USA South.
Hodorff saved her best for last, ending with career highs of 19 RBIs, 11 runs and eight doubles during her senior campaign in 2019. Additionally, she tied career-best marks with three home runs and a .471 slugging percentage. In the overall team statistics, she was tied for first in RBIs and home runs, while ranking second in doubles and third in slugging percentage.
Hodorff's accomplishments on the field were outstanding, but she never never lost sight of the importance of being a student first. She compiled a 3.44 GPA as an undergraduate and is maintaining a 3.52 GPA in her graduate studies.
"The Division III philosophy makes you feel that the sole purpose of being at the school is not just athletics, but your education is a top priority as well," said Hodorff. "It makes you focus on both your performance athletically and academically. This was one of my favorite things about being a student-athlete because I was held to a high standard on the softball field and in the classroom."
Hodorff took some time to reflect on her playing days and the current state of LaGrange softball.
Q: What lessons did you learn as a Division III student-athlete?
A: Being a Division III student-athlete gave me the opportunity to learn how to balance and prioritize the duties of being a player and student. This gave me experience that has currently helped me be more prepared for graduate school and will keep preparing me for future jobs. Being a softball player exposed me to the SPEED Center and its training programs my freshman year. I had exercised before I came to college, but I had never experienced that type of weightlifting before. I was immediately interested and was able to further my education in the field by receiving internship opportunities my junior and senior year to shadow and assist in coaching some of the other sports' teams at LaGrange.
Q: What do you cherish most about your Panther career?
A: Being able to play collegiate-level softball was a great experience and my four years went by way too fast. There are relationships that I built with coaches and players that played a huge role in the reason that I enjoyed my time at LaGrange.
Q: The softball team was off to a fast start this year with a 7-5 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the USA South. What did they show you?
A: The team had an amazing start to its season this year. With being the team's strength and conditioning coach, I enjoyed being able to see the whole team commit to the workouts in the SPEED Center. Training diligently in the offseason together showed how dedicated the student-athletes were to maximize their performance when it came time for the season to start.
Q: How would you describe LaGrange College?
A: LaGrange is the size school that allows students to get to know many people on campus and to develop better relationships with their professors.
Q: What was your ESPN top-10 moment and not-top-10 moment?
A: My ESPN top-10 moment was probably my freshman year when I hit my first-collegiate home run at Maryville. It was a big conference game and that was an exciting moment for me. My ESPN not-top-10 moment was my senior year when we were playing Huntingdon in the first round of the USA South Tournament and I made the last out of the first game. We ended up coming back and winning the second game of the series, but that last out in Game 1 was probably the most disappointed I had ever been in myself during my career.
Trevor Wenners can be reached at twenners@lagrange.edu.
