Angelina Eakman Keeps Father’s Memory Alive In The Circle

Angelina Eakman wears a necklace featuring a cross engraved with her father’s fingerprints. She touches it before she throws every pitch or when she’s in a stressful situation. It brings Eakman peace of mind and keeps her father close to her heart.

Sam Eakman died in 2023. After having surgery, he developed a blood clot and died at home of cardiac arrest. Sam coached his daughter throughout her softball career.

“I play for him,” said Eakman, who changed her travel ball number from 16 to 68 to represent the year her father was born. “I know that he was always proud of me, and he always will be proud of me, no matter what college I would have went to, what job I would get, or even if I were to quit softball. He always told me that.”

Eakman, a 2026 recruit from Mercer, Pa., has committed to play at Virginia Tech. The 5-foot-10 right-hander plays for FP Select 18U and Mercer Area Senior High School, where she holds the program’s home run record.

Eakman is hoping to become another in the long line of talented pitchers to excel at the Division I level at Virginia Tech.

“I love the coaches. They’re honestly amazing,” Eakman said. “The pitching coach, Josh Johnson, is probably the best pitching coach in the country. He has so much knowledge with softball, and I believe he can take me to where my best potential will be.”

Before committing to Virginia Tech last September, Eakman struggled with a case of the yips. It started during a high school game, when she couldn’t locate the strike zone. It got even worse during the summer in travel ball, and she pitched only 20 innings in six tournaments.

“It was horrible. I would throw the ball 20 feet in the air, and then sometimes I’d compensate, and then it would hit the ground,” she said. “I just couldn’t get a strike in, or I’d walk everyone. That was rough.”

Eakman sought assistance to work through the issue via separate online meetings with former Northwestern pitcher Eileen Canney Linnehan and Bhrett McCabe, a clinical and sports psychologist.

“They helped me realize that it’s not a part of me. It’s just something that’s happening and it’s not connected to me, it’s not a part of my identity,” Eakman said. “That really helped me, and then playing some people that I know I for sure could strike out helped my confidence.”

As much as she’s struggled battling the yips, Eakman believes she’s benefitted from the experience. 

“Mentally, I’ve become stronger,” she said. “I just know how to get out of it now and It’s honestly helped my game.”

Eakman’s entrance into softball at age 7 came from an aversion to running. She played a number of sports growing up, but got winded easily and realized she needed something less taxing on the lungs. Her mom signed her up for the local softball rec league.

“After a couple practices and games, I broke my wrist and I was stuck in the dugout,” Eakman said. “But I would copy the pitcher’s movements, and then I started lessons once my wrist was all healed up. My friend was the main pitcher on my team, and I looked up to her because she was older than me. I wanted to be like her.”

Eakman has played for several travel organizations over the years, and recently joined FB Select 18U to remain closer to home.

“My pitching coach is the coach for this team, and he’s helped me a lot, so I just wanted to stick with him,” she said. “I’m also committed now, so I don’t really have to get that college exposure that I had to before and can stay local more.”

Eakman gives lessons to younger players in her area, and played in the same tournament as one of her students this summer. She is also a rec league umpire, and hopes to stay around the sport as long as possible once she graduates from college.

“I do eventually want to continue lessons throughout college and whenever I’m older,” said Eakman, who plans to major in business. “I just don’t know if I want to do lessons for girls who can’t afford it or form a nonprofit of some sort. But I also want to own my own complex.”