Straughn senior Kayla Teel loves to play basketball and softball — there’s no denying that.

But, when it came to deciding which one she wanted to play at the college level, Teel said it would be softball.

Monday morning, Teel signed a softball scholarship to play at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College.

Teel has been playing softball since she was 6 years old and has started at second base for the Lady Tigers the past four years.

In the 2008-09 season, Kayla had a .208 batting average, hitting in nine runners and had five stolen bases.

On the field, Teel only managed four errors in that season with 78 attempts at .971 percent, which is the highest on the team.

In 2007-08, Teel had a .271 batting average.

“She is a four-year starter at second base and has always been consistently a very good defensive player for us,” Straughn coach Ray Wilson said. “She is very unselfish and is willing to do whatever is necessary for her team.”

Teel said it was a struggle to decide what sport she wanted to play, but added that she made the right choice.

“I didn’t really know that I was going to go and play softball at a college because I was going to play basketball, but I changed my mind,” she said.

When asked if she likes one better than the other, Teel said softball has come to be her favorite.

“I’m liking softball better now,” she said. “I like making the great catches and great plays.”

Teel hasn’t always been at second base on the field. She played in the outfield her seventh and eighth grade years.

With the season in progress, Straughn has a 2-2-1 record after beating Greenville and Opp at the Trojan Class Fastpitch Tournament in Troy last weekend. The Lady Tigers fell to Excel twice, losing 6-2 on Friday night and 1-0 on Saturday. Tuesday night, the Lady Tigers tied with Flomaton 1-1, after play was stopped in the fifth inning due to inclement weather.

Teel said the team is going to just “forget” the losses over the weekend and focus on what lies ahead.

After this season, Teel will leave behind Straughn’s softball team, but she said she will miss playing for the school and for Wilson.

“He’s taught us to just mainly to work hard at everything you do,” she said. “I’m going to really miss softball here and playing sports here in general. College is going to be different.”

Teel said she wants to be the kind of role model on the team the younger players can look up to, especially at practice.

“I want to just work hard at practice and make sure the younger ones are looking up to me,” she said.

Teel is the daughter of Kathy and Kenny Teel of Andalusia.

On Saturday, the All-American Baseball and Softball Winter Clinic will take place at the baseball and softball complex at LBWCC on Andalusia’s campus.

The registration fee is $50 for boys and girls ages 7-15. Registration is at 8:30 a.m. and the clinic will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.