Student-Athlete of the Week – Tessah Black
“It’s just my heart… like… oh my God, I’m going to cry… sorry,” Palm Springs softball captain Tessah Black said.
Black gets emotional when talking about her love for the sport she’s played since she was five years old.
“It’s like home to me,” she said.
She says softball is the thing that has shaped her most in her life. That and her family.
“They inspire me alot because they’re really athletic. They push me to be the best I could be, so it basically runs in my family,” Black said.
Black comes from a family full of athletes. Her dad played Division I college football, her grandfather is in the Palm Springs High School Hall of Fame and her sister played for the Indians softball team. Now, she’s carrying on the legacy.
“She’s going to go definitely down as probably the best center fielder that’s come through here,” said Palm Springs' head softball coach Carmen Vargas.
Vargas has known Tessah for more than a decade.
“With her, it’s passion. She’s so competitive. She’s definitely the most competitive player we have," Vargas said. “You can’t teach that. You know, she’s just got it. She’s born for it.”
Vargas says Black is a natural-born leader.
“She has the skill, so she leads by example, but on top of also being vocal, it doesn’t get better than that,” Vargas said.
Beyond high school, Black plans to follow in her dad’s footsteps by playing at the Division I level as a walk-on at Arizona State University.
“I put in so much work to get where I am now," she said. "I don’t want to give up.”
Her coach says she’s ready.
