When Ashley Waters was carving out a terrific softball career at the University of Maine, she took note of the “all the plaques of (UMaine) Hall of Famers on the wall in the Memorial Gym lobby.
“In the back of my mind, I wanted to be on that wall someday,” said Waters, the head softball coach at Boston University.
On Sept. 8 Walters will be one of eight inductees into the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame.
“It’s surreal. I’m so humbled and honored. I can’t wait to celebrate with my family,” said the 31-year-old Waters.
Waters, a second baseman, was a two-year captain at UMaine where she was an America East All-Rookie pick before earning first-team honors her junior and senior years.
Waters was the AE Player of the Year in 2008 when she hit .352 with 10 home runs and 30 runs batted in. She was a two-time Northeast All-Region choice.
The communications major also won an America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and the “M” Club Dean Smith Award given annually to UMaine’s top male and female athletes based on academic and athletic achievement as well as citizenship and community service.
Waters said she was surprised to receive the call from Jack Cosgrove, the school’s senior associate director of athletics, to inform her she was being inducted.
“I was by myself, walking my dog. I smiled ear-to-ear for 30 minutes,” said Waters.
She was an exceptional three-sport athlete at Amesbury (Massachusetts) High School and was the 2005 recipient of the Boston Globe’s Will McDonough Award as the Massachusetts Female Athlete of the Year.
She contemplated attending a Division II school so she could play both softball and field hockey but her competitive juices took over when “people questioned if I could play softball in Division I.
“Someone said if I went to Maine, I’d be a little fish in a big pond. That’s what launched me in Maine’s direction. I like it when people doubt me. It gives me some drive,” said Waters. “I love to win. I don’t care how hard I have to work to get it done. And Maine gave me the platform to be myself.”
She said she was also influenced by former Black Bears softball standout Lauren Dulkis, who graduated the year before Waters arrived in Orono.
“Lauren had nothing but great things to say about Maine,” Waters said of Dulkis, who is now an assistant coach with Waters at BU.
Waters said the atmosphere at UMaine was special.
“Coming to Maine changed my life. I had some incredible teammates. I really looked up to (star shortstop) Brittany Cheney. She was incredible athletically and academically. I wanted to be like her. She always played hard. I emulated what she was doing,” said Waters.
Waters considers former UMaine teammates Kristen Calvetti and Alexis Souhlaris two of her closest friends.
“My teammates and I were hard-nosed kids who just wanted to play ball. Sometimes it wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to get it done,” said Waters.
Coaching is something that has been in Waters’ blood since she was a youngster. Her mother Jacquie, who Waters calls the “hardest-working woman I know,” has coached the Amesbury High softball team for over 30 years. Her dad, Doug, is a high school hockey coach.
Ashley is the youngest of their three children. Sister Lindsey and brother Corey were also athletes.
“I’ve been around games my whole life. I love being on the field. I like telling people what to do. Some of my teammates hate me for this,” quipped Waters. “I’ve always felt I understood the game and had instincts others didn’t have.”
Waters began coaching as an assistant at UMaine for one semester. She then coached Under-18 teams in Connecticut while playing for the two-time national softball champion Stratford Brakettes.
She says her communications degree has come in handy in dealing with her players.
She is proud of the fact she was able to help steer three of the girls she coached — Felicia Lennon, Erika Leonard and Rachel Harvey — to UMaine.
Waters spent three seasons as an assistant at Harvard and helped the Crimson win 73 games. In two seasons as the head coach at BU, she has led the Terriers to an NCAA tournament berth, a 25-9 Patriot League record and a 53-51 overall mark.
‘We have special student-athletes at BU. I love coaching them,” said Waters who is bringing her team to Orono for some fall games the weekend after her induction.