April 9, 2018
By Andy Kuros, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Tori Hackenberg showed up to Penn State softball's tryouts in the fall with hope and a dream of playing for the Blue and White. Although she worked hard and was determined to make the team, she was unsure if she did enough to beat out the other potential walk-ons to earn her spot on the roster.
"Coming to tryouts, I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't know if I would make it or not," Hackenberg said. "I just knew I had to give it everything I had."
That's exactly what she would do. Soon after tryouts ended, head coach Amanda Lehotak and her staff passed along the news of a lifetime: she was officially a Nittany Lion softball player.
"It was absolutely a dream," Hackenberg said about cracking the team's roster. "I never thought that I'd ever be playing for Penn State.
Hackenberg, along with sophomore Amanda Grieco, were the only student-athletes to successfully walk-on to the program this season. Lehotak talked about the work ethic of her newest freshman infielder Hackenberg.
"We had walk-on tryouts in the fall and she came to the tryout and worked her butt off," Lehotak said. "She's a work ethic kid. Unfortunately, she got hurt in the second week and was out for a while, but she's working her way back in."
Hackenberg, a Pennsylvania native who was a four-year letterman that won two state championships for Mifflinburg Area High School, made the decision out of high school that she would come to school in Happy Valley regardless if she had a spot on the softball team or not.
"I'm really not that far away, but I never really envisioned myself being here until I came and visited the campus," Hackenberg added. "I said to myself: 'I absolutely have to be there whether I play softball or not. ' "
For Hackenberg, one added benefit of attending Penn State was its close proximity to her home in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, which is just over an hour from State College.
"It's great. I love that my parents can be here at every home game. I love that my friends come and support me," Hackenberg said. "It's just really great being so close."
The veterinary and biomedical sciences major now has the best of both worlds - a school that is not only close to home, but one that gives her the opportunity to continue playing the game she loves. Coach Lehotak talked about how great a fit Hackenberg is for Penn State.
"It's really fun to have a local kid that people can rally around," Lehotak said about Hackenberg. "She's doing great. She's seen more base-running time than anything. Her injury hindered some things she could do in practice, so she's still a little behind in that regard. It's great we finally have someone local to come in and scratch her way into the lineup for the next few years. "
As for her transition into collegiate softball, Hackenberg credits the upperclassmen for making the difficult process of walking-on easier for her.
"I didn't know a lot coming in, especially being a walk-on. I didn't know the rules or know anything. I jumped right in and (the upperclassmen) helped me and taught me what I needed to know," she said.
When asked if she had someone in the program who she looks up to, Hackenberg didn't hesitate for a moment in stating her answer
"Tori Dubois," Hackenberg said emphatically. "She's always there and if I do something wrong she's the first one to point it out. She's just always there for me."
With her strong work ethic and a great role model in Dubois, the sky is the limit for the local product, and she is excited to see what the future in Happy Valley holds.