Alexis Robinson Signs Two Letters for Playing at Sul Ross this Fall

       Alexis ‘Smiley’ Robinson signs two letters of intent for playing at Sul Ross

Alexis Robinson signed her letter of intent to attend Sul Ross earlier this year and will play two sports that she excelled in at Canyon Lake these past four years.

Robinson was the replacement for Missy Romero in the circle four years ago and she grew into her roll with grace and stamina, leaving with a bus load of records.

A good parting gift for Robinson could be a turn-table or a Juke Box to have a chance to replay her records while at school.

Robinson will be going from the Hill Country to the Davis Mountain Country as that will also be her job in raising her talent level in order to compete on a college stage. Just like climbing a hill versus climbing a mountain, it will be steeper and much higher.

Robinson was certainly on top of the hill while at Canyon Lake as she finished her Softball high school career at the top in several areas.

                      Resides in First Place in: 
                     at bats   runs   hits   rbi’s    2b    3b    hr
 Alexis Robinson      360      117    135    94       27    15    11
 2nd Place Hawk       328       89    124    76       24     9     6
 Hawk Player         Kelsey  Kirsten Carley Kelsey Kelsey Missy  Kelsey 
                     Ahrens  Jones   Dubois Ahrens Ahrens Romero Ahrens

Robinson batted .375 for her career and had very productive at bats with a great on base percentage (.455) and slugging percentage (.625).

Robinson finished just one victory away from tying Missy Romero with 40 wins while also finishing on top with 682 strikeouts.

Volleyball will be the other sport that will get Robinson’s competitive juices going as she finished honing her skills in getting blocks her last two years on the hard wood. Robinson finished in second place for the Hawks in blocks with 77, just 5 behind Bailey Drum’s record of 82 rejections.

Alexis Robinson, ‘Smiley’ after pitching and hitting a home-run

This year’s volleyball team will finish with another record in having two players going on to play more in college.

Head Softball Coach, John Gallagher had some words for Alexis, “As a coach, I am impressed with Alexis’s competitive spirit. How she approaches each game with confidence and determination to play the best she can…..she is very athletic and her talents have propelled her to the next level.”

Coach Gallagher was not finished, “She is a leader on the field which makes everyone around her perform better. She encourages her teammates anyway she can during practices to push themselves to be better….I feel Alexis will step right in and help her team next season while at Sul Ross.”

When asked what Alexis brought to the Hawk Softball team, Coach Gallagher said, “She brought a competitive nature to this team that spread to others. Her knowledge of the game helped her learn at a higher level through her career at Canyon Lake and she played at that level each year.”

“She embraced the role of leader on the field and always ‘wanted the ball in crucial situations,” Coach Gallagher closed. “These traits will suit her well in college and in life afterwards.”

Why would Robinson go to far west Texas? “I initially chose Sul Ross because of the distance and the ‘home’ feel I got out of the area,” Robinson calculated. “The beautiful surroundings and environment reminded me of Colorado and the town reminded me of Canyon Lake, which are both places I love.”

“I chose Sul Ross because of the education, the cost of school, and mostly the people,” Robinson continued. “When I visited, my coaches would make a point to stop and address every athlete/student that passed, that to me spoke louder than anything else while I was there and that is something I would like to be part of.”

The ReSporter is from that part of Texas and will vouch for how personable and beautiful this part of Texas is.

“There’s a lot of generosity and hospitality and everyone took a part in,” Robinson smiled. “Another main reason was the athletics, my softball coach talked about how they are trying to revamp the athletics and they are trying to rebuild a tradition…..In that moment I thought about Canyon Lake, because that is what our high school is about; building tradition….so getting the opportunity to continue to build a tradition in college is a dream of mine.”

The ReSporter feels that Alexis is certainly going to fit in as you can read how she came to her decision for school.

“My coaches are really excited to re-build the athletics and bring back a winning program,” Robinson said in answering what the coaches were expecting from their players. “They said that it is going to take a lot of hard work and dedication.”

Being in far west Texas will also help for their home games as those opponents will be on the road a long time in order to compete.

“Also being out in Alpine, our travels will be a lot longer than normal, which I am fine with because I have traveled all my life,” Robinson said in response to those road games. “Other than that, they told me to come ready to work while having fun doing it.”

Robinson will not have much time but playing sports and studying as these two sports will not have a plethora of time to do much else.

“Once I get settled in and adapted to my schedule then I will just have to make sure all of my school work is done before I choose to do anything else,” Robinson said in response to playing two sports. “Luckily, we do have mandatory ‘study-halls’, which will help out with staying on top of my schooling.”

On playing two sports? “I do not believe it will hinder my talent in either sport because I have been playing both for a really long time; volleyball since I was in 5th grade and softball since I was 3 or 4 years old…..I have also been on that same schedule in high school and it will continue in college, it’ll just be harder.”

“My softball coach said he would rather see me playing in a competitive sport rather than being in off season, so I cam already come in conditioned and ready to work.

On what you will remember about Canyon Lake? “To be completely honest, there are so many, that I can’t choose one…..so instead, I am going to say building the tradition has been the best part. Winning and setting records in volleyball as a team and softball as an individual has been one of the most exciting, tiring and irreplaceable moments at Canyon Lake.”

Robinson was not finished, “There is nothing better than creating the relationships I have made in high school, it has taught me a lot about myself and others….without all of the girls, coaches, friends, and peers support and comfort at Canyon Lake, I do not think I would be where I am at today.”

Sophomore Pitcher Alexis Robinson still ‘Smiling’

Jeff Robinson, Alexis father, would respond to this important day for his daughter, “A lot of athletes dream of playing two sports, but very few get the chance….I also would let her know that just having the chance to get a great educations is priceless, these opportunities will run with them so don’t look back, it will be some of the most wonderful memories she will ever have.”

The ReSporter had Alexis’ Dad tell a story on how the visit to Sul Ross was a trip to talk about Softball, but became a talk that also would include Volleyball.

“We were asked by the softball coach at Sul Ross, once we met the could, he walked us around and introduced us to the other coaches, we met Coach Roberts the volleyball coach last, he and Alexis talked and he asked where she went to school, he knew CL was doing very well in volleyball. Coach Canaba, the softball coach, said to us, you know you can play both sports here….Alexis and I just looked at each other and kind of blew it off. We toured the campus had lunch with Coach Canaba, he then asked if we could hang out with Coach Roberts for a hour or so as he had something to do, so Alexis and coach Roberts talked more, he had called a few of his friends that coach volleyball in the San Antonio area and asked about Alexis….by the end of that hour coach Roberts asked Alexis to be his first 2016 middle blocker recruit.”

The ReSporter can spot a story, and can only wonder what Coach Canaba really had to do that was so important during this time of the day and can only deduce that what Canaba was doing was helping the Volleyball Coach to get recruit for that sport.

“I asked Coach Roberts how this would work as we were not recruiting for volleyball and he had not seen Alexis play or seen any video,” Jeff Robinson recalled. “He said he had talked to more friends that night and he was ready to commit to Alexis, so she did.”

Those type of events will happen when a school has a reputation for having good sports programs and this certainly states that the Hawks have reached that level in volleyball.

Hawks are Proud of Alexis Robinson

The ReSporter asked Mr. Robinson for something he remembered about his daughter as she was growing up, “When Alexis started playing softball, Canyon Lake had just started a girls tee ball, she signed up and was put on a team. She was so happy and gave it she had every practice and every game.”

“She loved the game then and still loves it,” Jeff Robinson said. “She loved it so much the smiled all the time and I mean a smile ear to ear, so much that the coaches nicknamed her ‘smiley’ and that name stuck with her every where we went to the local store to school, even other coaches on different teams knew her nickname.”

“When she started playing select softball, she was much taller than all the other players,” Robinson closed. “I would tell the select coaches to call her smiley and that lasted for a while, but she was much taller than the other players her age, so her nickname became stretch. The Coaches even ordered her new uniforms not with Robinson but with stretch and it still sticks today.”

You now know about another Hawk that will go to her next base in life and with what has been shown by ’Smiley-Stretch’, you could deduce that this young lady will enjoy her days going around the bases.

Wow!! What a testimony into a great young lady’s heart as we now will get a chance to see her advance up the hill to the mountain as she climbs to her new places to conquer.