Edyn Lopez signs to continue career at ENMU

Los Lunas Softball standout Edyn Lopez will be continuing her career at the next level after signing to play for Eastern New Mexico University on National Signing Day earlier this month.

“Edyn is a versatile fielder who can be plugged into several spots and was a great fit from the moment she stepped on campus.” ENMU head coach Kira Zeiter said in a release.

She is the second Tiger softball player to sign to play at the next level, joining Emma Davids, who signed with Garden City Community College.

Edyn Lopez poses with a softball with “ENMU” written on it during a signing ceremony held earlier this month to celebrate her commitment to Eastern New Mexico.
Submitted photo

Lopez chose Eastern after conversations with their head coach and a campus visit, with the close proximity to home working in favor of the Greyhounds also.

“Talking to coach Zeiter, it was just super easy going, and she answered every question that I had, so I really liked that,” Lopez said. “I didn’t leave the conversation feeling like I had a few more questions. It was really easy, I really liked her energy and her philosophy.

“I think after visiting campus and I got to meet the other coach as well and see the area I would be playing, it felt nice to be close to home as well.”

Lopez picked the Greyhounds over a school in Minnesota as well as Cisco Community College in Cisco, Texas.

Concerns about the weather and the distance to home swayed her towards going to school somewhere closer, as well as the opportunities at a four-year school compared to a community college made ENMU the right fit for Lopez, who plans to major in chemistry with the eventual goal of going to pharmacy school and becoming a pharmacist.

“I originally wanted to become a sports medicine physician, but after talking with my mom who works in the medical field, I realized I wanted more free time than a doctor has because I’d eventually like to be able to help coach and have a family and all of that stuff, so I decided I want to go down a different path.”

Her mother initially suggested she look at pharmacy schools, and after looking into it, she decided it was something she would want to do, as she has always enjoyed chemistry.

Although it’s currently hard for anyone to predict what will happen with this season and next, Lopez said she feels like she will be able to go into ENMU and see the field early on if she continues putting in the effort like she is now.

“It’s a little bit hectic right now because of COVID,” Lopez said. “As of right now everything looks pretty good. Obviously I’ll be at the bottom of the chain for a while but I’m hoping that I’ll have put the work in and show them that I’m capable of playing right away as an incoming freshman and I think they see that as well. We’ve had a few conversations about it. It’s looking like as long as I put in the work and the effort I should be good, I just need to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Currently, she’s working on situational hitting and focusing her mentality in pressure moments.

“I’m working on focusing my mentality,” said Lopez. “Obviously we can’t have practices right now so I’m working with my mom or my dad in the backyard focusing on what I’m going to do during a certain count or during a certain situation knowing that I only have a few swings.”

Once she gets onto ENMU’s campus, she’s going to be focusing on her overall development as well as getting to know her new teammates and preparing for the season and getting ready to beat her new rivals.

“West Texas A&M, who is in our conference is one of our big rivals and it would be huge to beat them,” Lopez said.

Another appealing thing about ENMU for Lopez was the size of the roster. Because of the size of the roster, it’s clear the priority within the program is to take care of the players as people first and not pressure players to play through injuries for the good of the team because someone will be able to fill into that role until everyone is completely healthy.

With one year left in a Tigers uniform, Lopez still has some things she would like to accomplish at LLHS, with her ultimate goal being to win a state title.

“I’d like to go in and get the girls to mesh and take state,” Lopez said. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, so it starts with each game and winning each game. Then we can worry about winning district and going and taking state, but I think that would be amazing.”