80866385
Sofia Cedrone has devoted eight years to becoming an accomplished softball player, approaching each performance as a test of her mettle. Though that span has taught the 18-year-old diligence, it cannot match the emotional rewards of being the mother of 15-month-old daughter Mya.
Now blessed with two obsessions, the teenager is learning to keep in accord her desire to dominate and need to nurture.
“I have even more goals because I’m a parent,” Cedrone said Tuesday from her home on the 2700 block of South Iseminger Street. “Motherhood is challenging me to manage my whole life differently, but I care so much about softball and Mya that I won’t stop.”
A recent graduate of Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St., she became pregnant shortly before her junior year began, though she had the news confirmed only at the end of her second trimester.
“I didn’t show at all,” she said of her state, which one month later caused a hiatus from softball, the game she chose over basketball and soccer while a participant in the Southeast Youth Athletic Association, Seventh and Bigler streets.
The announcement of their impending time as grandparents stunned Rich and Kim Cedrone only briefly, as they determined to provide their kin and her offspring with the necessary support.
“Like hitters when facing tough pitchers, we had to make adjustments,” Rich Cedrone, who has overseen Sofia’s athletic maturation for 14 years and who has served as Neumann-Goretti’s softball coach for five seasons, said.
Though she yearned to give birth, Sofia Cedrone could not shake an equally fervent longing for smashing fastballs. Her activities curtailed, she pondered the length of her absence from the diamond, confiding to her father that she sought a blend of parenting and continuing her travel ball career.
An emergency Caesarian section brought Mya into the world April 12, 2011. One month premature, she suffered no complications and has delighted her family since, even gaining a grasp on walking at only 9 months.
“I love shopping with her,” Sofia Cedrone said of a product of her daughter’s adept footwork. “Really, though, any time with her makes me feel great.”
Surely to receive empathy from all matriarchs, she has needed to grow accustomed to handling her child’s screams, which she deems the hardest part of increasing parental confidence. As Mya loves to eat, feedings have proven the easiest tasks. Her budding belief must intensify as her progeny matures, with a huge opportunity coming next month when she begins matriculating at Rosemont College.
“I will live there, at least for the first year, which is what they encourage athletes to do,” Sofia Cedrone said of placing herself a 35-minute drive away from Mya, who will receive the Cedrones’ abundant supply of affection while the young lady studies business management. “The distance could be a problem for some people, but we will make it work.”
If Sofia Cedrone proves as consummate a parent as she has a softball player, Mya will enjoy a wonderful existence. She kicked off her athletic crusade at 4, playing baseball at SEYAA. After successful stints at the former Stella Maris School, 814 Bigler St., and Epiphany of Our Lord School, now Our Lady of Hope School, 1248 Jackson St., she headed to Neumann-Goretti, where she and pitcher Jillian Murray, now at West Chester University, formed a formidable battery.
“It was fun to catch Jillian,” she said of the four-time All-Catholic standout.
When the hurler graduated two years ago, Sofia Cedrone aimed to build on two honorable mention parochial nods.
“I’ve always wanted to be better than other people,” she said.
Her ambition landed her a three-year run with the Phillies Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program, a tenure that yielded a ’10 trip to the RBI Softball Series in West Palm Beach, Fla. Two appearances at the Softball Carpenter Cup also help her résumé to shine, but her high school career resonates most.
“I am very proud of being a four-year starter and making two playoff appearances,” she said as Mya smiled.
Aside from her interrupted junior campaign, Sofia Cedrone hit above .400 each season, including a .404 mark this year, her first as a third baseman. Her successful swan song culminated with her earning a First-Team All-Catholic selection.
“I just feel good that I’ve been able to get so much out of this game because I love it so much,” she said.
With a few schools coveting her, she opted for the Division III institution, a Colonial States Athletic Conference member. Though she patrolled the hot corner this year for the Saints, she will resume her normal catching duties as a collegiate.
“I will have a great chance to be the starter, too,” she said of trying to revive the Ravens, who went 7-25 in the spring.
Before she dons the tools of ignorance for Rosemont, she will continue her contributions to Plymouth Meeting’s Odyssey Fastpitch Softball organization this weekend, competing at the ASA Red, White and Blue Summer Classic in Lititz.
“It’s been a busy period lately, but I have fantastic support,” she said, nodding to her parents.
As her schedule will become even fuller as she and Mya age, she knows her creation will always serve as motivation.
“Softball has to share me with Mya,” she said. “We’re going to grow together.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
80866405
80866395
