Saline's Delaney Lee is incredibly grateful for the opportunity at Kalamazoo College

Excited about the academics, campus, community and opportunity to play softball at the college level, Saline student-athlete Delaney Lee recently made it official and signed with Kalamazoo College.

The Sun Times News (STN) caught up with Lee, a standout softball player and senior at Saline High School, to ask her about this exciting news.

“I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to play at the collegiate level,” Lee said of signing with Kalamazoo College. “It’s been a goal of mine for a long time and I couldn’t be more excited for next year.”

On signing day with her family. photo courtesy of Saline Athletics

She said she picked Kalamazoo “because I love the atmosphere of the campus and community, as well as their high academics that will help prepare me for my future career. The coaches also made me feel super welcome and comfortable when I visited and I knew it would be a great fit for me.”

With one more season as a Hornet, STN asked Lee about her time competing on the softball field for Saline. A big highlight for her was when they won the SEC Red last season after beating Lincoln. She said it was such an exciting game and it felt really good to see all of their hard work pay off.

“The past three years of high school ball have fueled my love for the sport and I can’t wait for next season to start,” she said. “The Saline Softball program is something special and being a part of it is a lot fun.”

In playing softball, she said her biggest motivation is her teammates, “they make me excited to come to practice every day and push me to be better.”

“We are all very driven and want to succeed as a team which makes it such a positive environment,” Lee said. “Most of us have been playing together for a long time so our team culture is very strong.”

As far as whom to thank for the support and help in getting to the opportunity to continue at the college level, Lee said there are some important people who have been there with her along the way.

“I want to thank my parents for always supporting me, I’ve been playing travel ball since I was ten and they have been there every step of the way,” she said. “I want to also thank all my past and present coaches, every single one has helped me reach my goals in one way or another and I wouldn’t be the player I am today without them. My teammates are the reason I love this sport as much as I do, there aren’t enough words for how grateful I am for them.”

Delaney Lee in the field. photo by Dawn McCann