Throughout a person’s life, there are a number of people that can have an impact on who they will become. For some, their role model could be a celebrity or someone famous that they look up to. But for Emme Friedrichsen, her biggest influences are some people that are a part of her everyday life.
“My biggest influences are my parents,” she said. “They work hard everyday for my family and they always push my siblings and I to work hard as well. Another would have to be my tenth grade chemistry teacher, Mrs. Rodgers. She has made a huge impact on my life because she was very understanding and she was always there to help me through the work that was given.”
Friedrichsen is a junior at Bixby High School. She plays outfield for the Spartan’s softball team. She is also a member of the Pryme Fastpitch softball travel team. And outside of sports, she is a member of the National Honor Society.
Emme has invested a lot of time and effort so that she can be at her best when she steps on the softball field. Along with the work, she knows that it takes other things to be successful.
“Being mentally strong is one of the reasons I am successful in softball,” she said. “Softball is a game of failure, you just have to be willing to put in the work and have high confidence in yourself. Winning and being a good teammate and person off the field motivates me. I always want to be the best person I can be.”
Bixby’s head softball coach, JP Sutmiller has seen Friedrichsen’s hard work result in outstanding play on the field.
“Emme does all the right things for all the right reasons,” Sutmiller said. “She is coming off of a slow pitch season where she became a fixture in the middle of the lineup. While she was a starter as a sophomore last season, she wasn’t as well known. We look for Emme to become a major part of this team and to begin to be respected as a very good ball player.”
Throughout her career, Emme has made a lot of memories with her teammates, but she has one accomplishment that stands out as her favorite.
“A highlight moment I’ve gotten to experience is when we hosted fastpitch regionals in 2023,” she recalled. “Bixby hasn’t had that happen in over a decade so it meant a lot to me and the rest of the team.”
When game days roll around and she puts on her Spartan uniform, Friedrichsen says that it is something special to her.
“It means a lot to represent Bixby because it is the town that I grew up in and it makes me proud to wear the red and blue colors.”
