Edgren junior Cinfani Davis said she’d much rather be playing baseball than softball. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Cinfani Davis simply didn’t find the pace of DODEA-Japan softball to her liking a season ago.
So the junior infielder tried out for and made the roster of Robert D. Edgren’s baseball team this season. And she said the change definitely agrees with her.
“Softball’s pace wasn’t as competitive,” Davis said between games of the Far East Division II tournament at Yokota Park. “I thought I wasn’t being challenged. I thought baseball would be more difficult. And it is.”
Davis isn’t the first girl to play baseball in DODEA-Pacific. Bessie Noll starred for American School In Japan in a high school career that ended in 2014, following in the footsteps of Zama’s Allison Amara. Madison Derber played for Yokota. And Kierstyn Aumua played for the Trojans more recently. But the vast majority of girls out for a diamond sport in the spring opt for softball.
The Eagles, coming off a runner-up finish a year ago, went 2-0 Wednesday to win their pool in the D-II baseball tournament.
Over the course of the season, Davis posted a .278 batting average and a .728 OPS. Teammates and Edgren’s coach say Davis has been a welcome addition.
“We are very lucky to have her,” longtime Eagles coach Brett Lehner said. “She’s been a big part of our success.”
“She’s shown the work ethic and her experience with softball has translated over to baseball, and it shows on the field,” Edgren senior Haruki Jones said.
As for the future, Davis says she plans to return to the Eagles baseball team next season, and that she enjoys playing alongside her Edgren teammates.
“They’re welcoming, supportive, encouraging; they’ve been really good to me,” Davis said.
