Taylor Skelley '22 Recruiting Profile

Question: What details of your life have influenced who you are?

I was raised to be honest, have integrity, have respect and compassion for others and appreciate every opportunity that has been provided to me. I have also been raised that you can not get anywhere in life without hard work and dedication, that was instilled in me at a young age and I carry all of these qualities in my daily life.

At the age of 10, I have had to experience the loss of my Grandmother in one of the worst ways imaginable, it shook me and I have tried to focus on what I have learned from it. Mainly, life is short, if you want something, give it everything you have and continue to put in hard work. Nothing is promised and life can only be what you make of it. I want to play baseball in College and beyond, I have learned through my life experiences so far that if stay strong in faith and continue to walk my life with hard work and dedication that I will succeed.

Question: When and how did you become interested in your sport?

I was born into a family that has a love for baseball, since I could walk, I had a bat and glove to play with. When I was 4 years old, my Mom signed me up for Miteball, I already showed talent at such a young age and while everyone else was hitting off of the Tee, I was getting pitched to. All of my coaches saw something in me and kept providing me with more knowledge. When I was 8, it started to get competitive and I realized that a lot of our success is determined by the Coaches that we surround ourselves with. It was at that time that my Mom put me on a exclusive travel ball team with the best Coach and friend I could ever have, Coach Fernando Arenado. He has been my coach for the past 5 years and I consider one of my best friends. I had a love for the sport but it wasn’t until I met Coach Fernando that I really had an appreciation and knowledge for the sport. I started learning everything I could, practicing daily, watching videos of players and situations. Baseball has been every part of my life since I was 4 years old and I continue to educate myself daily

Question: What have you learned about yourself through playing your sport?

Hard work and dedication is what will help you achieve your goals, I have to push myself to train daily and I have learned that my education is a priority, without good grades and an education, I can not play.

Question: What are your academic goals for high school? College?

I need to focus daily at my academics, I can not get behind, I must study and keep my grades up so I can continue to play baseball and to get a good High School Education to set me up for life, and I pray that I can get a scholarship to College so I can get a degree to support myself through life.

Question: Have you had to overcome obstacles to get where you are?

Yes, there were times when we didn’t have enough money to buy the baseball equipment I needed and I have to learn to play the best I could with what we could afford to provide. I have also had to overcome personal issues, I am tall and I needed to get better at agility, I needed to get quicker, lighter, learn how to run faster. I have gotten blisters on top of blisters on my hands from so much batting practice, I had to realize that I had to work through that even though it was painful at times.

Question: What unique characteristics or skills do you possess?

I am 6’1” and I am still 13 years old and I have a lot more to grow, I will be tall and height is something you can not teach. I have knowledge for the game, I understand the plays and what to do in certain situations. I am a very hard worker and I am coachable. I listen to all coaches and what they say, they all have something I could learn from and I want to stay educated in the sport in all areas. Because of my height and strength, I can pitch fast and accurate and I can hit the ball very hard and far. I have so much more to learn but I bring so much to the game already.