GoYeo Storytellers: Alexis Dill '20

Softball senior Alexis Dill ends her Yeowomen career with a .301 career batting average and just 14 hits shy of 100, a milestone she would have easily reached if the spring seasons weren't unfortunately canceled. The utility player burst onto the scene in 2017 as she started all 40 games during her rookie campaign, hitting .336 to garner North Coast Athletic Conference Second-Team honors. While there had been fellow Ohioans on the softball team in the past, the Avon, Ohio native was the only local product on the 2020 Yeowomen roster, however she didn’t always have her heart set on Oberlin. 

“I actually had no desire to come to Oberlin initially, but my dad played baseball here and always urged me to look here,” said Dill. At first, she was unsure if injuries would even allow her to play in college “because throughout my entire career, ever since eighth grade, I've had two stress fractures in my back which affects how hard I can push myself athletically sometimes, so I figured that playing in college wasn’t feasible. But one day while looking up schools I came across some information about Oberlin and I began to grasp how highly regarded it is around the world. I started to realize how good of an opportunity it would be to play softball and pursue writing here."

In a day and age where high school athletes hold signing day press conferences and put on a hat to declare what institution they will be attending, Dill had to be her own voice in the recruiting process. “I emailed Coach (Sara) Schoenhoft to express my interest, and right off the bat she was excited and wanted to get me here. When I came to visit, I loved everything about Oberlin. I loved the team, the coaches and the facilities. It was an added bonus that my parents could come to all of my games because throughout my high school and college careers, I can only think of maybe one or two games my dad hasn't been at. He’s been my mentor my entire career.”

Off the diamond, Dill has been a student worker in the athletic communications office where she’s written numerous GoYeo Storyteller pieces about her fellow student-athletes during her time at Oberlin, and this past summer she had the opportunity to attend the 2019 College Sports Information Directors of America’s (CoSIDA) annual convention in Orlando through a Division III Inclusion Grant.

“It was an awesome experience,” said Dill. “I attended the convention with seven other minority students. We went to Orlando in June for a four-day event where we participated in discussion tables and learned from a multitude of people who work in sports information. The last day was Divisional Day, and three other students and myself sat up on a panel to talk in front of nearly 200 SIDs and field questions about what we do in our positions, our relationships with our SIDs and what SIDs can do to create better experiences for their student-athletes.”

As she headed into her senior year, Dill was certain she wanted to pursue a career in baseball. “Baseball has always been my greatest passion. Growing up, my older brother played constantly, so we never went on summer vacations as a family. Instead, we traveled all over the state for baseball tournaments. My dad was my brother’s coach for years, and I grew up watching him throw my brother pop-ups in the backyard. That was when I first fell in love with the game."

Dill also learned about the game through books.

With that idea in mind, the senior attended the 2019 Baseball Winter Meetings in San Diego, California — a go-to event for those who want to interview for jobs in professional baseball — at the insistence of Oberlin alum Lilah Drafts-Johnson '18. “She was a national champion in the 400m hurdles and a big name across campus just because of her character and involvement in so many different things. She now works for the Office of the Commissioner in New York City. I had written a couple stories about her for The Oberlin Review, so she reached out to me and said, ‘I know you're into baseball and I think you should connect with this person,’ so she connected me with her boss, Elizabeth Benn, who is a Senior Coordinator at the Office of the Commissioner. Last year Benn created the initiative Take the Field in connection with the MLB Department of Diversity and Inclusion. The convention’s goal is to bring together 50 women from across the country of all ages and interests and expose them to what working in baseball is all about and the challenges that come with it. There were four groups — scouting, player development, coaching, and umpiring — and I went with the scouting group. I had the opportunity to work with Kelly Rodman, an amateur scout with the New York Yankees who passed away from cancer last week. She was one of just three female scouts in MLB, and I cherish having had the chance to get to know her.”

Alexis claimed she panicked this past fall about what she was going to do upon graduation, but received good news at the end of the semester. “I was freaking out about it a little bit,” said Dill. “I stressed over what I was going to do post-graduation, so I applied to a bunch of different jobs and got lucky with USA Baseball.” Alexis will be serving as a media relations intern at the National Team Championships this summer, which takes place in Arizona. When asked about the interview process she said, “I went through a pair of interviews and completed a profile of samples for them, which consisted of social media posts, an injury report and a post-game recap.”

With there being a movement in recent years to increase the number of women working in sports, Alexis believes she’s been very lucky. “I’ve been given a lot of opportunities by a lot of great people. For example, there are 10 teams in the entire Cape League, and I was the only female writing intern and essentially the only female working in a press box. The other women working in the league were either photographers or sideline reporters, so I’m very grateful that my boss, Red Sox General Manager Steve Faucher, really took a chance on me."

Even though Alexis earned the opportunity, sometimes women in male-dominated industries can feel intimidated or the need to prove themselves in their job, but fortunately for Alexis, she felt empowered.

Although Alexis' collegiate career ended earlier than expected, she will always look back on her time at Oberlin fondly. “Heartbroken sure, but what a ride it was. I’d be lying if I said it was an easy ride with injuries, having to overcome the (throwing) yips these last couple years and playing four different positions. But at the end of day, I can't say enough about my teammates and coaches who have been more than supportive throughout this whole ride. I've definitely learned a lot about myself and how to be a good teammate and a good leader. I believe that those lessons are far more valuable to me than anything that I could have accomplished on the field.”