MOBRIDGE – Grace Overland is working overtime competing in two different state events within a week.

The 16th best discus thrower and 17th best Javelin thrower in Class A track and fied is the pitching ace for the Mobridge-Pollock softball team, which is competing in the state tourney today through Saturday at North Players Complex. Despite both sports happening in the spring, the senior managed to compete at a high level in each one.

“Preparing for (State Track) we had morning practices, so the day we left for Hanson for the Sweet 16 game, we had morning practice for track right before then” Overland said. “There are

actually five of us on our softball team that went to state track, so we’ve been putting in hours.”

Overland was also going to add more onto her plate had she not fractured her foot during volleyball season.

“I did just throwing this year, because I fractured my foot during volleyball season and running kind of hurt,” said Overland. “So, we were like, you know what, we’re not gonna hurt it again, so we can go out and play softball.”

Unlike baseball, softball pitchers don’t have a pitch count, because pitching a softball puts less strain on arms that pitching a baseball does.

However, with all that Overland does, she still experiences fatigue.

“The first question I get from everybody who plays baseball is ‘Oh do you have a pitch count? Does your arm never hurt?’ No, my arm doesn’t hurt, I just get tired,” said Overland. “When I start getting tired, I’ll bring a couple of Red Bulls, so I can get a couple bursts.”

While competing in both throwing events in track and field, and softball at the same time, it’s a little bit of a different approach mentally between the two sports.

“With jav and disc, it’s not as mentally tough for me to do those, because I don’t have a whole other team relying on me,” Overland said. “If I have a bad day with track, I have a bad day. It is what it is. If I have a bad day pitching, you need to pull it together because you got a whole team behind you.”

Despite the difference in mentality, Overland saw some crossover between pitching a softball and throwing a javelin.

“I think pitching honestly helped me, especially with jav and blocking,” Overland said. “Every pitch you have to block, so that you can use that momentum, so it was the same motion with jav, which was really beneficial for me.”

On the softball field, she has a familiar face backing her up defensively: her twin sister Sophia.

“Oh. we always fight, all the time. But it’s more like play fighting. She doesn’t miss catches, I’ll give her that, but if there’s one that she misses, I’m like ‘Come on, you could’ve had that, you’re like two feet away,’” Grace said. “And then she’ll make fun of me. ‘Why’d you walk that person?’ But we just get along really well.”

She also has a very familiar face in the dugout as the head coach: her dad Andrew Overland.

“I don’t get any days off. When we have weekends free, he goes, ‘Grab your stuff, we’re going in the trees,’” Overland said. “He has definitely held me accountable. I’ve been pitching for three years now, and I’ve definitely seen improvement.”

Having a dad as a head coach isn’t easy, but it does come with rewards.

“I’ll give him credit for this. He harps on me and at the time, I hate it. He’s like ‘Have you been out to the garage today? Have you pitched? Have you done this?’ No. ‘Well you need to go do it,’” she said. “Even though I hate doing it, I appreciate that he does it. And he holds me to that standard, because he’s like if you want to win, you’re gonna have to put in the work.”

Although her dad has good points, she’ll never let him know.

“I’ll never tell him he was right,” Overland said laughingly. “No way.”

Once state track finished this past weekend, Overland made a quick transition from throwing spears and discs to throwing softballs.

“Right after I got done throwing with track, I was like ‘Alright, now it’s time to start preparing for softball.’ Getting mentally ready,” Overland said. “Sweet 16 game, my hands were shaking. They never shake. Somebody needs to yell at me and tell me to chill out right now. And my second baseman behind me, ‘CHILL OUT!’ Thank you.”

After competing in three different sports, softball tops the list for Overland.

“Definitely softball. My dad has been coaching us since we were like 2-years-old in softball. We’ve been playing with this team, especially the group of seniors that we have, we’ve been playing together since we were like 8,” Overland said. “I actually get to play with my mom during summer. So, we play slow pitch during the summer which is something I can do for a really long time and I really enjoy it.”

With her high school career coming to an end, Overland will look to start a club team at South Dakota State when she begins school there in the fall. “I’m going to SDSU and a couple of the girls on the team are also going to SDSU, so we’re going to try and do a club team,” Overland said. “We’re kind of just YOLO. Go for it, whatever happens, happens.”