Spring Stars: Marana High School's softball duo hopes for one chance to say goodbye before starting college careers

The Star is profiling Southern Arizona high school athletes whose seasons were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Each high school was asked to nominate an exceptional spring sport athlete who exemplifies greatness on and off the field, court or track.

Laneya Wright and Cheyenne Hudson grew up together on Southern Arizona’s softball fields.

They made Marana High School’s varsity team as freshmen and, for the last four years, were penciled in as starters and all-conference players.

When the coronavirus pandemic ended the spring sports season, Wright and Hudson had each played in exactly 96 games and had exactly 112 hits apiece. Their stats for runs scored and RBIs were nearly identical, too.

Like so many student-athletes, Wright and Hudson didn’t know that the last game they played for the Tigers would be their final game with the team — and possibly with each other. The Tigers were in the middle of a tournament when the Arizona Interscholastic Association announced the suspension of the spring season, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.

“We were about to leave for the next game when we found out,” Wright, 18, said. “The thing I miss the most in all this is just being able to know I played my last game with the team I’ve played with for a few years now. Not the whole senior night or graduation, but just having that closure of knowing I played my last game with them.”

Wright’s is hopeful she can play club ball over the summer. She’ll continue her softball career in college at Rider University, where she’ll enroll in the business college. She said she’d like to major in either entrepreneurship or business management at the New Jersey school.

For now, Wright is staying sharp by hitting balls on her own and throwing with her dad, when he’s available. Both of her parents work in the medical field, meaning they’ve been busy of late.

“I don’t want to get burnt out on softball, but I want to keep working,” Wright said. She misses the days she spent practicing and playing with her teammates on the Tigers and looks back fondly on her freshman year. “Being able to play that first game with girls I looked up to and having those mentors and being able to play with them was my favorite memory from high school.”

Wright said she can’t wait to reunite with her friends — like Hudson. In the fall, Hudson, a 17-year-old shortstop and pitcher, will enroll at Huntingdon College in Alabama.

“It’s a little far, but that will be fun,” said Hudson, who wants to pursue a career as a dental hygienist. “I’m very bored at home, so this is definitely hard.”

Hudson is running at least a mile a day, holds what she calls “little” workouts and hits off the tee to stave off boredom. She carried a 4.11 GPA at Marana, her schedule filled with honors and advanced-placement classes.

She said she’ll miss classic high school activities, like football games and dances. And as much as she was looking forward to prom, the prospect of missing out on softball hurts the most.

“I’ve missed out on the bus rides with my team, the pre-game locker room jam out sessions and just getting to play alongside some really good teammates,” Hudson said. “The coaching, senior night … just the memories.”

Hudson has been texting her teammates, and says that she thinks the Tigers’ booster club is planning a farewell event for the girls “even if it means staying 6 feet apart, or whatever.”

Hudson and Wright are hoping for the chance to say a proper goodbye, and wish the rest of their teammates farewell.

“They’re just trying to put something together for that special moment we haven’t had,” Hudson said.