Return to Wichita for pro AUX softball affords Julia Cottrill time with ‘best friend’

Long before she became a professional softball player, Julia Cottrill first learned how to compete in the backyard of her grandparents’ home in Wichita.

One of 12 grandchildren, Cottrill was left to fend for herself on the basketball court and in Wiffle Ball games at the routine family gatherings.

“That’s where I got my competitive drive from,” Cottrill said. “Everything was a challenge back then, no matter what it was. I think that’s what instilled the fight and grit in me. Once I went away to college and I was all on my own, I already had that in me. I’m just so competitive. I want to win every pitch of every game and I think I got that from my family.”

Cottrill went on to enjoy a standout collegiate career in the SEC and Big 12, playing two years at Florida, one year at Oklahoma State and the final two at Texas A&M, where she was an All-American catcher and hit nine home runs with 45 RBIs this past season.

That earned the Wichita native the unique opportunity to make her professional debut in her hometown, as Cottrill has been playing in the Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX season ongoing at Wichita State’s Wilkins Stadium. Cottrill and Team Clark, the blue team, will play the second game in a doubleheader at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in a game broadcast on ESPN2.

“We were driving to dinner the other day and we went right by the fields at Westurban and that’s where I played my first game ever,” Cottrill said. “Coming back home has been so amazing. My grandpa didn’t get to travel as much this past year, so being able to play in front of him has really meant a lot to me.”

Cottrill’s grandfather happens to be Grier Jones, something of a Wichita sports celebrity who won the 1968 NCAA individual championship and enjoyed a 14-year career on the PGA Tour, where he earned Rookie of the Year honors and was a three-time winner. Grier Jones was a successful college coach at Wichita State until he retired in 2019.

The man who many consider the best golfer to ever come from Wichita is just known as “grandpa” to Cottrill.

“That was my best friend growing up,” Cottrill said. “He took me to everything from baseball games at Wichita State to basketball games. I sat there and was taking the book at 8-years-old. And he would drive me to lessons, anything he thought could help me become a better player. He was such a huge part of my success.”

While Jones and many of the other grandchildren — one of Cottrill’s cousins is Maize’s Kinslea Jones, who has won three straight high school golf titles — are known for their golfing abilities, Cottrill said she always appreciated the way her grandfather was able to relate things to softball when working with her.

It also helped having a father who was invested in softball. After making a name for himself with the Wichita Mustangs, Jeff Cottrill was hired away by Oklahoma State, where he spent seven years as an assistant coach, and now works as the hitting coach for Missouri.

“The biggest thing that was instilled in me at an early age was work ethic,” Cottrill said. “My grandpa used to be at the golf course every single day to work. That’s why he found so much success. So just being around that taught me the importance of work ethic and that’s still in me.”

When her father was hired by Oklahoma State, Cottrill moved to Stillwater, which is why some in the Wichita area might not remember her name. She only played her freshman year of high school in the Wichita area, a year she still remembers fondly because of Andover Central softball coach Rita Frakes.

Cottrill was regarded as one of the nation’s top recruits and ended up starting 226 games in college at the power-conference level. She also helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2019 WBSC U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup. And now she’s a professional softball player competing against the best of the best in Wichita, a surreal feeling she’s still getting used to.

“I’m playing with some of the best players in the world and now I get to call them my teammates,” Cottrill said. “It’s so crazy to me, but it’s such an honor and I’m just so happy to be back in Wichita. I’ve always had support here and Wichita will always be home for me. This is where it all started for me.”

In her first professional at-bat, Cottrill singled in front of her hometown fans. On Sunday, she drilled a line-drive double to the wall to plate a pair of runs.

But those aren’t her favorite memories from her time back in Wichita this past week.

That’s reserved for the time she’s been able to spend at her grandparents’ home, reunited with her best friend.

“It’s been amazing to be able to hang out with them again,” Cottrill said. “Grandma was getting on him the other day about him giving me his feedback. She’s like, ‘Leave her alone, she knows what she’s doing now.’ And he was like, ‘I know, but I’m still going to give my two cents.’ And I love his two cents so much.”