Aubrie Shore signs to play softball at University of Southeast Missouri State

Editor’s Note: First Published Dec. 2019. Updated Nov. 12, 2020.

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

For many, Aubrie Shore’s story started as a high school freshman at Mahomet-Seymour.

As a ninth-grader in the spring of 2018, she rewrote the school record books for home runs in softball for a season (13) and earned All-Area first-team accolades from The News-Gazette.

It was an impressive start to her prep career, but it was far from the beginning of her story. It was merely another – albeit prominent – chapter in a softball career that started when she first played in the Mahomet Rec League as a kindergartner.

When her high school career began, Shore could hit with power and pitch effectively. She also won 11 varsity games in her debut season.

She was, however, far from a prodigy.

Shore remembers the times when the only headlines she would see were the ones with other players’ names.

“I never had ‘talent’ that some kids are just born with,” Shore said. “My very first year playing, I wasn’t very good.

“It really only took one season of sitting the bench and batting dead last for me to realize that I wanted to be the best on the field. This is when the grind started.”

Shore was in sixth-grade when she committed herself to the diamond sport.

“I started doing hitting lessons in Chicago every Wednesday night, Crossfit on Tuesday and Thursday, and my other days were spent pitching, fielding and hitting some more,” Shore said. “It seems like a lot for a sixth-grader, but I loved every minute of it and when I started seeing results in games, it made softball even better.

“Softball has always really been a part of my life.”

Even when she was active in other endeavors – such as soccer, flag football and track – “softball has always been my No. 1 sport,” Shore said.

Well before she made a name for herself on the local scene, Shore became well known at the state and national levels.

As an eighth-grader, she was a member of the Junior High All-State Showcase Team. That same school year, she made unofficial college visits to Louisville and to Michigan.

“I was going to commit to Louisville in the eighth-grade,” Shore recalled, “but I decided not to because of how young I was, and I just wasn’t ready.

“Luckily I didn’t, because there was a coaching change.”

The pitcher/third baseman is now a junior and still has half of her prep career at M-S ahead of her. As a sophomore, she was picked for the Illinois Coaches Association Class 3A All-State third team.

After taking unofficial visits during the fall to Austin Peay and to Southeast Missouri State, Shore felt comfortable in putting an end to the recruiting process.

On Nov. 10, Shore signed her letter of intent to play at Southeast Missouri State, a university of about 11,000 students located in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

She doesn’t expect to second-guess her decision.

“It was really easy to talk to the coaches,” Shore said. “They’re all really nice people.

“The way they teach hitting is similar to how I swing and that was something that was really important.”

The school’s location also played a factor.

“It’s not too far from home,” Shore said. “My family is really close and I knew that my parents would want to come to every game possible, which they are capable of doing here.

“SEMO is a perfect fit.”

A two-time News-Gazette All-Area first-teamer, who has swatted a school-record 21 career home runs, Shore had grown tired of the recruiting process.

“It’s stressful,” she said. “Coaches don’t really let you know at all if they like you or not, which can be the tough part because you don’t know if you should keep trying to go to the school’s camps or not.

“The biggest grind is definitely going to camps and doing good at them.”

There is a plus side to the exposure events.

“The best part though is getting to go across the country and playing softball with some of your closest friends,” Shore said.

She is projected as a corner infielder in college, but will continue to play a position and pitch for M-S.

“You have to work harder than others because you have another position you have to play,” Shore said. “I don’t really mind where I play as long as I’m hitting.

“Hitting is my favorite thing to do.”

It’s an area where she has excelled for the Bulldogs. More than half of her high school hits have landed for extra bases (49 of 96) and her cumulative two-year batting average is .473. In 239 plate appearances, Shore has struck out just six times.

As a pitcher, she has averaged more than one strikeout per inning (with 257 in 249 1/3 innings). She has won 21 games.

“Our good friends Steve Tarrant and his daughter, Alie Tarrant, have helped a lot with the pitching aspect of it,” Shore said. “Other than that, my dad helps a lot with the training and practice part.”

She believes she can focus on the remainder of her high school career and on continuing to improve, without distractions, now that she has ended the recruiting game.

“I’m so blessed to be able to go to a D-1 school,” she said. “It means the world to me that I get the opportunity to do this.

“It’s going to be nice to be able to not have to worry about what colleges are there to watch you. You just get to have fun.”

Shore put herself in position to get collegiate offers by challenging herself and being dedicated to the game.

“I’ve always wanted to play college softball since I was younger,” Shore said. “I’ve improved by playing with teams that are playing really good competition.

“I started travel ball with the Champaign Blue Ice, then I played three years with Midland Magic, one year with Peoria Slugger Gold and this will be my second season with Premier Fastpitch.”

In 2019, Shore’s Premier Fastpitch team ended the year ranked 25^th nationally.

In both 2018 and 2019, Shore was selected for the Colorado Fireworks All-American Team.

Her aspirations to play beyond high school were nurtured years ago.

“I was already playing at a high level with girls that had the same expectations as me, to play in college,” Shore said.

At Southeast Missouri State, Shore plans to major in sports management with a minor in nutrition.

Beyond that, her goals are fluid although she hopes to remain in sports, “hopefully working with a professional team of some sort,” she said.