SANDPOINT — Senior SHS pitcher Jaycie Irish will continue playing softball after high school when she attends Spokane Falls Community College this fall.

Irish made the announcement to the Bee prior to Friday’s Battle for the Paddle against Lakeland.

Irish said she has dreamed of playing a sport collegiately since she was a kid and can’t believe her dream has come true.

“Since I got into high school, I was like I have to play softball,” Irish said. “I don’t care where it is, if its a Division I or a community college, I’m just going to do it.”

Her passion for the sport comes from her dad, brother and grandfather who all played baseball in high school. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The coaches here really just make me love the sport a lot more,” Irish said.

Irish said she practiced with the Spokane Falls team at the beginning of the school year and really enjoyed it. Then they offered her spot on the squad and she took it.

“The head coach at Spokane Falls was actually my pitching coach over the summer so I got to know her really well and its just a really fun environment to be around,” she said.

Irish said she also chose SFCC because its close to home and will allow to travel back to Sandpoint on the weekends when she wants to.

Irish and the rest of the softball team open the season in March and in her final season, Irish is hoping to shatter the school’s record of home runs in a season.

The current record is four and she is confident she can beat it.

“I want to at least get five so I get my name on the record board,” she said.