(CEDAR HILL, TEXAS) Alayna Parram is excited about the opportunity to play college softball and study athletic training at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma.
“I chose Langston because I wanted to attend a Historically Black College & University (HBCU), and I wanted a smaller school,” said the Cedar Hill High School senior. “It’s close to home, and I really like head softball coach Hosea Bell.”
Parram, a four-year starter at outfielder for the Lady Longhorns, verbally committed to Langston. The university competes in the Sooner Athletic Conference of NAIA. She expects to officially sign with the Lions later this month.
Langston, the only HBCU in the state of Oklahoma, is approximately four hours north of Cedar Hill. Parram chose Langston over Grambling State and Prairie View A&M.
Parram has played softball since the age of 8. She moved to Cedar Hill as a seventh grader and graduated from Bessie Coleman Middle School. The school is named in honor of a prominent Langston student who became the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot’s license.
As a freshman, Parram was a member of the Cedar Hill Softball Team that reached the first round of the UIL Class 6A Playoffs. They lost to Waco Midway in the first round, but earning that success has been an important motivator for Parram and her teammates.
Six of the nine current CHHS softball seniors played as freshmen on the 2018 team.
There have been ups and downs along the way. The group has had three head coaches in four seasons, and last season was canceled in March due to COVID-19.
Cedar Hill Softball Team Looks Forward To Spring
But things are turning around for Cedar Hill Softball.
Last summer, Jennifer Davis, a Cedar Hill High School Class of 2004 Graduate, became the head softball coach and business teacher. Davis led Cedar Hill to the Regional Championship Game before playing college softball at UTEP.
Parram said Davis’ knowledge of the game has been a very exciting development for the program.
Since practices won’t begin until January, and the Lady Longhorns won’t play a regular season game until February 15 at Lovejoy, Davis said she can’t take credit for Cedar Hill’s first college commit since she became coach.
But she has no doubt that Parram will excel this spring for Cedar Hill and in her softball career at Langston.
“I’m excited for her and I know she’ll do amazing,” Davis said. “She’s one of the fastest girls I’ve ever seen on a softball field, and she always gives 110 percent. Hopefully, she’s motivated the other seniors on the team to make a commitment to a college.”
Parram’s long-term goal is to become an athletic trainer for an NBA or NFL Team. She plays club softball in D-FW, but COVID-19 has limited the number of opportunities for games this fall.
Parram joins a Langston program that finished 9-14, before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
