By Jim Henry

Heather Arnett’s first hit as a professional softball player was exactly like so many of her hits as an amateur.

Appearing as a pinch-hitter Friday afternoon for the Florida Vibe, Arnett easily beat out a bunt for a single, and she alertly continued to second base when the Kansas City Diamonds failed to cover the base.

“I did it on my own,” she said with a laugh.

Moments later, Arnett scored on a single to center field as the Vibe defeated the Diamonds 15-2 at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kan.

Arnett, who earned six playing and three academic All-American honors during her record-setting career at Pittsburg State, has spent this summer as one of 14 players on the Professional Softball League Development team in Kansas City. She was following her daily routine earlier this week when a phone call changed everything.

“Wednesday morning, I played in my development game,” Arnett said. “Our manager got a call from the Vibe general manager and asked if I could play with them for the weekend. I was pretty surprised.”

Hours later, Arnett was in the Vibe’s dugout – she is listed as Player8 on the roster -- for the Diamonds’ home opener, which attracted approximately 5,500 fans.

“Even being on the other team, the crowd was into it,” Arnett said. “Everyone was so excited to be there. We got to sign autographs before and after the game. It was amazing. Seeing that many people there to support the growing community for softball is so much fun. It’s so exciting.”

Arnett appeared in Wednesday night’s game as a pinch-runner. She did not play in Thursday’s game but cashed in on her one at-bat Friday.

A lot of family and friends have made the trip to Kansas City this week.

“The first word that comes to my head is fun,” she said. “The group they have is fun. All those girls are continuing to play because they love the game. They want to be a part of this while it’s growing and for the future of softball.
“This opportunity has been a lot of emotions and really hard to put into words.”

The PSL has six teams – the Vibe, Diamonds, Atlanta Smoke, Florida Breeze, NY Rise and Chattanooga Chili.

Arnett’s call-up with the Vibe likely ends with Saturday’s 11 a.m. game. Should that happen, she’ll stay with the PSLD team until the season ends in mid-July.

“As of right now, it’s just for this series,” Arnett said. “For the PSLD players, we can get called up at any time for any of the teams. Specifically for home weekends for the Diamonds, they open up rosters. So they can pick any of us to come for one night or one weekend or for the summer. It’s whatever they need.”