Addi Hurst Named Second-Team Division II Region 20 Outfielder

Arnold’s Addi Hurst knew she had to face tough challenges going from high school softball to battling college-level pitching with more velocity and movement. Compounding that, Hurst was the first person in her family to attend college.

After a stellar freshman year both on the field and in the classroom at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), Hurst exceeded her expectations by earning second-team Region 20 softball honors as a center fielder as well as finishing with a 3.69 grade point average (GPA) for the spring semester.

Hurst began playing softball in fourth grade, but basketball was her primary sport growing up.

“It was in middle school when I began to really enjoy playing softball and playing travel ball for the Brooklyn Park Bandits,” Hurst said. “We played against some talented travel league teams and went to numerous United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) tournaments at Bachman Sports Complex in Glen Burnie.”

That travel ball experience and competing against elite competition paid dividends as Hurst entered Broadneck High School and helped the Bruins win the regional championship during her senior year.

“I learned a great deal from coach (Beth) Mackel at Broadneck and developed close friendships with my teammates,” Hurst said, referring to Broadneck’s former head coach for softball. “At Broadneck, I learned to relax more and make the game more fun and embrace (that) ‘it’s just a game, so let’s have fun’ philosophy.”

Hurst chose AACC for her next challenge and experienced a big difference in the level of competition.

“I learned that the pitchers were super, super fast and threw a lot of ‘rise balls’ in college,” Hurst said. “I had to quickly make adjustments as the season began.”

Hurst made those adjustments and had a stellar year for the Riverhawks, hitting for a .434 average, with four home runs and 27 runs batted in. Hurst also had a .495 on-base percentage and .904 fielding mark. Hurst was named to the second-team All Maryland Junior College team as an outfielder. That award is given to players competing in all Maryland junior colleges.

“When we scouted Addi at Broadneck, we immediately knew she would be an asset both on offense and defense,” said Riverhawks head softball coach Guy Klingensmith, who coached 10 years in the Green Hornets organization, including both baseball and softball.

Hurst had to miss some time this season as she was in concussion protocol after making a spectacular catch against Howard Community College.

“Abbi made an ESPN highlight catch in center field by robbing an opponent of a home run,” Klingensmith said. “Unfortunately, she paid the price with a concussion when she hit the wall, but Abbi continued to be part of the team by attending meetings and games while she was in concussion protocol. She also maintained her high academic marks throughout the spring.”

Balancing being a full-time student and a vigorous softball schedule, Hurst also works part-time at Oishi Japanese Cuisine, a restaurant in Arnold.

Hurst will return to AACC for her sophomore year and bring her offensive and defensive talent and fun-loving philosophy to the Arnold campus.

Klingensmith is thrilled that Hurst is coming back, and he misses Hurst enjoying sunflower seeds during practice and games.

“You won’t find Abbi without sunflower seeds. She loves her seeds,” Klingensmith said.

The Riverhawks will look to improve their record next year as they finished with a 9-26 mark. They had victories over Howard County and Cecil County community colleges as well as Butler County and Westmoreland County community colleges in Pennsylvania.