Leah Jackson, 2009, Softball

Leah Jackson, class of 2009, is the embodiment of a Brewer Hall of Fame student athlete. This academic star and extraordinary athlete achieved remarkable success at both the high school and collegiate levels. At Brewer High School, Jackson played varsity basketball and softball for four years and soccer for two. Jackson received the scholastic award from the Brewer Kiwanis Club and the Ohmart Female Athlete of the Year honor in 2009. Jackson went on to excel as a student and as a basketball and softball player at Maine Maritime Academy.

Jackson had an exceptional softball career at Brewer High School. She competed in eleven play-off games, was voted Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference (KVAC) First Team All-Conference two years in a row, and was part of two KVAC championships. Most notably, she was a member of the 2008 Maine State Softball Championship team. Jackson, who served as team captain her senior year, was a quiet leader who always supported her teammates. Over her high school softball career, Jackson’s strong offensive abilities were highlighted through her 58 hits, 36 Runs Batted In and her formidable .327 batting average. She was fearless and very competitive. Opposing pitchers often pitched around her and she had a discriminating strike zone. Coach Estes said it all when he reflected: “To paint a picture of the type of player Leah was…one of my favorite memories of her on the field was a double play she had fielding a suicide squeeze off the bunt. Leah fielded the bunt, ran up the line, tagged the runner heading home, turned to second base, on the hop and threw a laser beam to the center fielder who had come in to cover second base and then threw the player out who had just batted the ball. She was an OUTSTANDING defensive player and one of the few players I’ve allowed and trusted to call the complete game as a catcher.” Coach Estes affirmed, “In my time as varsity softball coach over the past 15 years, I feel as though Leah Jackson is one of the top softball players to come through the program.”

In addition to her softball skills, Jackson was a very gifted and skilled basketball player. Jackson summed up her philosophy about basketball and life through a quote by Wayne Gretzky, ‘You miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.’ Her perseverance on the court was rewarded when she received the prestigious McDonald’s-Maine Association of Basketball Coaches Senior All-Star Team Award. This award is given to the top senior players in each competitive division, who are invited to play an East/West all-star game. Leah was the first female at Brewer High School to receive this award. Jackson was also nominated to the McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Team. She acknowledged that her success was always supported by her family stating, “at least ten family members were at every one of my games!”

Jackson went on to be a very successful Division III student athlete at the collegiate level as a member of both the basketball and softball teams at Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) where she earned MMA’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Jackson’s career records in basketball at MMA include 2nd all-time in career rebounds, 9th all-time in career assists, 14th all-time in career points scored.

Currently, Jackson holds eight softball all-time records at MMA including career slugging percentage, runs scored, fielding percentage, and runs batted in. She was named team captain in 2013, North Atlantic Conference (NAC) First Team honors all four years, twice the NAC Defensive Player of the Year as well as NAC Player of the Year in 2013.

In 2014, Jackson graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in International Business and Logistics and a minor in Humanities and Social Science. She currently works for Sappi North America as a Senior Operations planner and resides in Winslow, Maine with her wife Meghan and their two rescue pups, Summit and Alpine.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE INDUCTION AND ACCEPTANCE SPEECH OF LEAH JACKSON

Presenter Deidra Davis and Leah Jackson