O’nalisa Hall’s spirits were high after recently returning home from Colorado and Georgia, where her Voodoo Rhinehart 18U softball squad played in a trio of tournaments.

The Inglemoor High incoming senior experienced two and a half weeks of solid fastpitch action and bonding with her teammates.

“We all played as a team and we played together, and it was really sad to see all the seniors go and graduate off. We all had a great bond and I think it’s gonna last a long time. It was really nice,” said Hall, an outfielder whose team is coached by Clint Rhinehart.

Hall — who sports a 3.9 grade-point average — was further thrilled to learn that she was named to the second team of the class 4A Washington State Softball Coaches Association all-state teams.

“It’s a pretty awesome award to (receive), especially because I have been working really hard throughout my high school career,” said Hall, a 4A KingCo first-team outfield selection last season, during which she hit three home runs.

An added bonus in Colorado was attracting the attention of New York University coaches, who called and notified Hall that they had a roster spot with her name on it. She spoke to them about academics and is going to schedule a visit with the coach and players.

With her softball tournaments finished, Hall will focus on Crossfit this summer and is looking forward to her senior year and beyond.

Roaming the grass in center field is one of the highlights of Hall’s softball career.

“I feel like I can kind of take control and command the outfield as well as just run around and dive for balls. Try and catch balls over the fence, like judge and time (fly balls) and everything,” she said.

The Reporter asked Hall a series of questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her life:

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

My mom’s always told me, ‘No matter what everyone tells you, just keep going.’ I’ve had times where I recently didn’t wanna play softball anymore and I was just gonna kind of throw in the towel and say like, ‘I’m done,’ but then she always told me like, ‘You’ve worked so hard, look at these accomplishments that you’ve been given, all these awards that you’ve been given — you can’t just give up on it.’ She knows that I genuinely care about softball, and so that was definitely something that pushed me to keep going and is gonna push me to continue to keep going, especially when I do decide to play in college.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

When people drag their feet when they walk. It makes me so irritated and so mad and I just wanna tell them to pick up their feet when they walk.

If you could go to dinner with one person, who would that be?

Celebrity-wise, I would probably go with Channing Tatum, he’s always been a crush of mine since I was like 9.

What super power would you like to have?

Flying. I’ve always wanted to fly. I just feel one of the best things would be scenery-wise, just being able to look up and fly.

What would you tell an incoming freshman how to navigate high school and have a successful four years?

Academics-wise and in the classroom, I’d honestly just tell them to make sure they’re getting their homework done on time. That’s probably one of the biggest things that I feel like sets kids back and sets differences in the classroom besides test scores.

On-the-field-wise, I would definitely say follow your captains and leaders. They’ve been there for X amount of years, they obviously know what’s going on. (That was) definitely something that helped me when I was a freshman, so I think giving that advice to an incoming freshman would be really beneficial.

What inspires you? Is there a person, a movie, lyrics?

Since I was really little, my favorite movie has always been “Soul Surfer” with Bethany Hamilton and overcoming her shark attack. I always think about how it could always be worse for me: for example, I could have not made a catch, but it could always be worse; I could have struck out, but it could always be worse. That’s something that’s pushed me — she pushed through something that was obviously extreme and she’s been overcoming these things.