From the ranch to the diamond: How Texas' Reese Atwood became the must-watch hitter at the WCWS

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Texas' 2025 softball roster features 7 All-SEC selections, 3 Collegiate Player of the Year apical 25 finalists and 2 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Americans. But few, if immoderate astatine all, of the No. 9 Longhorns grew up rather similar inferior catcher Reese Atwood, who spent her puerility connected a South Texas ranch guiding hunting trips and breeding whitetail breeder bucks.

"I got to bent astir the cervid a batch -- my occupation was to way the babies down and ear-tag them," Atwood told ESPN this week. "I grew up with a batch of responsibility, ever moving from a young age. It gave maine a enactment ethic and a cognition that it takes hard enactment to bash things right."

Life connected the ranch was conscionable a portion of a small-town upbringing successful Sandia, Texas -- population: 326 -- that helped signifier Atwood, the All-American slugger astatine the halfway of Texas' latest Women's College World Series run.

After a breakout sophomore season, Atwood is again pacing Texas. She leads the Longhorns successful location runs (21), RBIs (86), walks (41) and full bases (153), and she earned All-SEC first-team honors this season. On May 2, Atwood became the archetypal Texas subordinate to eclipse 200 vocation RBIs with a two-run location tally against Kentucky.

Hitless with a locomotion and a sacrifice alert RBI successful 5 at-bats crossed Texas' archetypal 2 WCWS wins, the Longhorns are inactive waiting for Atwood to assistance off. If anything, the sleeping elephantine successful the bosom of the lineup lone makes the Texas discourtesy scarier arsenic the Longhorns participate Monday's nationalist semifinal against No. 7 Tennessee (noon ET, ESPN) sitting 1 triumph distant from the program's 3rd WCWS finals quality since 2022.

"Reese has been the 1 starring our production," Texas manager Mike White said. "We spell arsenic she goes, typically. Reese is 1 of those kids wherever you ne'er privation to instrumentality a interruption and spell to the concession stand. You ever ticker her at-bats due to the fact that you ne'er cognize what she'll bash next."

How did Atwood emergence from the ranch to presumption arsenic the must-watch hitter successful the mediate of the Longhorns' batting order? Lots -- and tons -- of miles successful the car.

GROWING UP IN Sandia was much than conscionable keeping way of the cervid and tending to the chickens, goats, geese and smattering of exotic animals astatine home. It besides featured plentifulness of agelong drives for the Atwood family.

Atwood began playing softball astatine 6 years aged successful a league successful Corpus Christi, Texas, much than 40 minutes from her home. As she roseate done the section prime softball ranks, those treks up and down Interstate 37 continued and grew much frequent. Atwood's high-level hitting and fielding lessons often required an hour-plus ride.

"We were driving each time aft schoolhouse for practice, lessons and games connected weekends," her dad, Geoff Atwood, said. "Somehow, arsenic parents, we made it work. We figured retired however to marque it happen."

By the extremity of mediate school, Atwood was a talented catcher with a standout bat and a imagination to play astatine Texas, the budding softball powerhouse 3 hours from location successful Austin. Yet, wrong the constricted recruiting vulnerability of the question shot country successful Corpus Christi, Atwood said astatine the clip she believed her aboriginal was much apt astatine the inferior assemblage level wrong the state.

"No 1 was ever going to the large assemblage programs [from Corpus]," Atwood said.

For their girl to interruption through, the Atwoods understood much car clip would request to beryllium logged.

After mediate school, Atwood joined the Houston-based question programme Hotshots Premier, which was astir 4 hours from home. For the adjacent 4 years, her parents shuttled her astir for games and practices. When Atwood was successful a hitting slump, she'd get successful the car with her dada and spell spot Hotshots manager Nathan Nelson for an exigency hitting lesson. The region ne'er mattered.

"I'd prime her up from schoolhouse astatine 3:30 and I'd thrust astir 4 hours for a one-hour session," Geoff said. "She'd beryllium doing her homework successful the backmost of the car and we wouldn't get location until midnight. That's however committed and successful emotion with the athletics Reese was. As a parent, I was going to bash everything I could to assistance her fulfill her dreams and enactment her."

Alongside teammates she'd aboriginal look successful assemblage and against higher-level competition, Atwood's crippled soared with the Hotshots.

Florida's Ava Brown, Oklahoma's Sam Landry and Kasidi Pickering, Tennessee's Taylor Pannell, and the Texas Tech trio of Alexa Langeliers, Chloe Riassetto and Victoria Valdez are among Atwood's erstwhile Hotshots counterparts successful the 2025 WCWS field.

Under Nelson, Atwood became a three-time nationalist champion and deed .456, with 47 hits, 13 doubles, 9 location runs and 34 RBIs successful her last summertime with the program. By Atwood's elder play successful precocious school, she was the top-ranked catcher and No. 5 wide imaginable successful the 2022 class, per Extra Inning Softball's 2022 Extra Elite.

"I ever held onto that imagination of playing astatine Texas," Atwood said. "But I didn't person it enactment successful beforehand of maine until I started playing nationally for a Houston team."

White, present successful his seventh play starring the Longhorns, spotted Atwood's endowment crossed a bid of precocious schoolhouse scouting camps. Her imaginable down the plate, White said, was clear, reminiscent of erstwhile Florida catcher Aubree Munro, a two-time nationalist champion with the Gators successful 2013-16. Atwood's bat was earthy but loaded with promise.

"We truly thought that with her tallness and leverage we could truly crook her into a high-level Division I hitter," White said. "And fortunately we were close connected that assumption."

ATWOOD STARTED 58 games betwixt catcher and archetypal base, and led Texas with 11 location runs arsenic a freshman successful 2023, past took it to different level arsenic a sophomore past outpouring with 23 homers and 90 RBIs.

In 2025, she ranks 14th nationally successful location runs and 22nd successful slugging percent with much RBIs than immoderate different hitter successful the country, thriving lone 3 hours from location and adjacent person to a household ranch southbound of San Antonio. "I get to spot my household a lot," Atwood said.

Three seasons successful Austin person developed Atwood into 1 of the sport's astir accomplished hitters and helped her mature into a halfway leader. With Atwood hardened by a WCWS finals decision to Oklahoma past spring, White said helium noticed a much comfy and vocal person erstwhile she returned successful 2025.

Reared connected the ranch, Atwood fits close into the edgy, hardworking mindset forged among the Longhorns this spring.

The caller mentality showed up successful a 3-0 WCWS opening triumph implicit Florida past Thursday. It appeared again Saturday erstwhile the Longhorns cleared a yearslong hurdle with a 4-2 triumph implicit four-time defending champion Oklahoma.

On Monday, Texas faces Tennessee arsenic it eyes its adjacent breakthrough, seeking much than a instrumentality to the WCWS finals for the 3rd clip successful 4 years and pushing to determination 1 measurement person toward the archetypal nationalist rubric successful programme history.

"We've built this civilization of tendency this year," Atwood said. "We're going aft the thing. We don't attraction what happens."