Written by Tiane Davis // Graphic by Cooper Turman
Athletes often have special traditions they follow to help them prepare for competition, and the softball and baseball teams use music as one of theirs. Each athlete typically picks three different songs to walk up to the plate to.
Senior infielder Hannah Garrett said the Lady Bisons get to pick one “girl power” song, one “throwback” and one “your choice.” They rotate themes every game. Garrett said her three songs are “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison, “Narco” by Blasterjaxx, and “Jump Around” by House of Pain.
“I think it’s important to have repetition, and having that routine when you’re going up to bat is a good reminder,” Garrett said. “It makes it fun, and you remember each song with each person when they play.”
Junior infielder Jordan Cabana, who grew up in Texas, said her song choices help remind her of why she started playing softball at Harding.
“I picked ‘If You’re Going to Play in Texas’ for anytime we play in Texas because it reminds me of home and what I’m playing for,” Cabana said. “‘Callin’ Baton Rouge’ is another one of my picks because it is a song I grew up listening to.”
Cabana said everyone’s specific songs speak for each player’s attitude and personality.
“You can tell from everyone’s walkup songs that it represents who they are or what they love,” Cabana said.
Head softball coach Ashley Reeves, who played softball at Texas Tech University 2004-2007, said she had her own walkup songs when she played in college. She said players usually change their song picks from year to year, but a few keep the same ones all four years.
“I think the walkup songs help set the tone for each girl,” Reeves said. “Music always makes things more fun, and it just kind of gets you set. It gets your mind going and ready to roll.”
The baseball team sets up their walkup songs a little differently. They often pick a different theme for each year, and their theme this season is “instrumental.”
Junior outfielder Sawyer Price said the guys are usually a little more serious and want to be almost over-focused during their games.
“I personally use a song that is more something that I enjoy and that will help me relax,” Price said. “I definitely think that people’s personalities will show if you pay attention to those.”
Price, who was in charge of setting up the team’s warm-up playlist this year, said he loves the song “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles and that he thinks it should be on the playlist every year.
Senior outfielder Cody Smith said players sometimes choose songs to encourage crowd participation. He said senior pitcher Joey Longhorn likes to play “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus because it gets the team and the crowd involved.
“Others will do music that will hype them up and get them ready to play,” Smith said. “I usually will choose music that has meaningful lyrics to me, so I’ll have a song that I can go through the lyrics in my head before I hit, and it will calm me down.”
Smith said they usually do not get to play their walkup songs at away games, but none of the players are too affected by that.
“It’s more of just an added home team advantage,” Smith said. “When we’re on the road, we all know we’re doing the same thing, and our music doesn’t really affect how we play. It’s just a fun thing that we do.”
