Adapted approach yields success for Aubrey Leach

“The people that are accumulating points and the way you’re actually climbing the leaderboard is hitting the long ball or those extra base hits,” Leach explained.

That wasn’t how she would describe her production as a hitter. Leach embraced being a speed player: bunts, slaps, putting the ball on the ground, and beating it out to first. Then, relying on the team mentality that someone will hit her around and that role will help her team win ball games. She described it as similar to a collegiate mentality and it’s what made her successful at Tennessee. But if she wanted to battle up the leaderboard, it was time to do things differently.

Leach hadn’t stood in the box and “took [her] hacks” since high school but she was ready to add that to her arsenal as a pro. She started by adjusting her swing from being line drive oriented to getting some air off the bat.

“I’m hitting through the infield. I’m getting it to the grass, but unless I’m hitting a gap, it’s not always extra bases. And so it was more looking for [a pitch]. I need the backspin; I need a little height.”

That was the mechanical side. The other side that she talks about often is adding more physical strength which she did through CrossFit training and strengthening her body top down. Leach said she always felt fit and excelled in the weight room but this new training took her power to a new level.

Once she invested time in the cage and the gym, it was put to the test.

Leach was named to the team national team roster and competed with Team USA throughout 2022. At the 2022 Pan American Championship in Guatemala, she hit fifth in the lineup.