Before her father, Kalen Deboer, arrived on the scene as one of the top coaches in college football, Washington's Alexis Deboer announced that she was a budding spot on the softball scene.

She is a 6-year-old kindergarten who has played youth softball in Carbondale, Illinois, and Kalen is the offensive coordinator for Southern Illinois, one of many stops he has become the head coach of Alabama.

This spring, while most of the other kids were playing in the dirt, Alexis stepped onto the plate (the coach of that age threw a car at the kids) and hit a ball on the outfield fence, which took the mother's Honda pilot out of Ricochet.

“My first thought was, ‘Well, maybe we have something here, but that little turkey hit my car,” her mom Nicole joked, one of those “little little kid fields.”

Still, the next week when Alexis hit the ball, the coach shouted to the other kids: "Alexis get up. Back up and take care of it!"

Alexis is still hitting home runs, but in the bigger field and on stage. In her first season in Washington, she became the second freshman in program history, earning 20 home runs on her way to the Top Ten freshman of the Year honors. She scored her 21st home run of the season in her first NCAA Championship loss to Mississippi State last Friday. The Husky continues to travel through the double-elimination zone on 4:30 pm ET on ESPN+ on Saturday’s journey against Brown.

Asked about her banner season, Alexis said: “Honestly, it’s about my teammates and coaches, and all the support they are helping me transition to college and know that they will support me no matter how I do it on the court.”

Karen laughed when he learned of his daughter's response.

"That's fun," Karen said, the opposite of the sound machine behind the microphone. “But that’s what we’re talking about, and when you’re interviewing it’s the easiest thing, not just about yourself. You talk about teammates, coaches and how great they are.

"It has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with the team."

Alexis, one of the 10 finalists for the NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award, listened to and learned a good education. She fulfilled her dream of playing softball for Coach Heather Tarr and Huskies, a dream that began before her father came to Washington in 2022.

"That's the whole thing is cool. She paved it up in her own way," Karen said. "I think maybe someone at some point, especially when she first committed to Washington, thought it was more about me, but she's already proven it's all about her, and that's how Coach Tarr has been approaching it. She recruited Alexis because she was a softball player and a person and was happy to see her do her thing."

Alexis mainly played first base this season, and he almost led the Huskimo. Entering Friday, she reached .369 with 54 RBIs and hit 15 times in 15 of her last 20 games. She also made only one mistake in 51 games.

The entire Deboer family took place this weekend in the Lubbock area of ​​Texas, watching Alexis in her first NCAA Championship and 31 consecutive appearances in Washington, a team carrying freshmans that entered the NCAA field.

It's hard to find a sport in the Deboer family. Alexis's sister Avery is in middle school, playing volleyball and participating in equestrian activities. Kalen is a record-breaking receiver in Sioux Falls football and also played baseball for three years in college. He briefly played in the semi-rugby league and some arena football games before full-time coaching, and he played a professional baseball season in an independent league in Canton, Ohio.

But, according to Alexis, the most competitive member of the family is her mom.

"We all have fire," Nicole said. "But I agree I'm hotter than the others."

Nicole rejected the I division and offered to get close to home, but still ranked in the top 25 scorers (1,187 career points) in the second-class at the Sioux Falls.

"She's Steph Curry before Steph Curry," Karen said. "She'll run into the half, pulling up from 3 and launching from deep. I mean, she can shoot from anywhere on the floor."

Kalen dared to challenge Nicole on the basketball court. They kicked the horse shortly after they met.

Karen joked, “I won and won’t play her again because I want to remain unbeaten against her.”

Nicole's retort: ​​"I'm still angry, really angry. He beat me legally and we haven't played again since."

So, it is clear that Alexis naturally inspired her competitiveness. Even board games with family, especially clues, can be fate, she said.

"Usually, Karen would recruit phone calls or jobs, but when he plays, he has to win," Nicole said. "He is so competitive."

Tarr is now in his 21st season as coach Washington, and what will Alexis get when she promises a promise to the Huskies as a junior in high school. She had attended meetings with Kalen in the athletic department, but more importantly, she did her homework on Alexis, who in turn completed her homework on a program in Washington.

When Kalen was a coach at Fresno State, Alexis attended softball camps in Washington when she lived in Fresno, California. She and Nicole even competed in Washington-Carl football while in town.

There is another tie between Deboers and Tarr. Sara Pickering is a husky Hall of Fame member and one of the greatest players in Washington softball history, and is an assistant coach at Fresno Alexis High School. Pickering and Tarr are teammates of Washington.

"Also, it's Kalen Deboer, so he's going to breed something special because of his identity," Taal said. "But, to see it day after day, what is Alexis of the professional and she never had any drama, it's the coach you want.

“She makes everything clean, simple, just a great teammate who you can work hard to coach and have the freedom to have someone like this on your team.”

Alexis’s path to freshman star in Washington is not easy. Given her father’s career path, she took seven moves nationwide and participated in 11 travel teams during this period.

“A lot of times, when Nicole and the girls find new jobs, Nicole and the girls can be moved out and the better travel team has been selected,” Karen said. “It’s like she keeps starting over.”

But in all the moves, Alexis’s batting coach is her father. From the moment she could hold the bat, Karen helped her develop the swing. Things got serious when she came home from kindergarten one day with a flyer about youth softball.

"I know it's dangerous enough," Karen joked, noting that Alexis never had a firm bond with a coach for long enough.

Alexis said she talks to her family almost every day, and when she and her father try to keep softball conversations to a minimum, she says how much debt she will leave him forever because he is always there to hit the ground ball, take her to the batting cage, and provide swing advice.

"I'm very comfortable with him, and he always finds time," Alexis said. "He never made it not fun. He taught. He didn't let the little things slide, but he knew what my dreams were and did everything he could to make them come true. Most importantly, he was a great father."

That's why Alexis told his father what Crimson Trend would do after Kalen offered their next football coach with millions of dollars.

Nicole said the only potential holding for Karen to accept the job was that he wanted to make sure Alexis could stay on the West Coast, while the family had travelled to Tuscaloosa all over the country.

But when he talks to Alexis, she makes it easy for everyone.

"I'm the place I want to go," Alexis told her father. "I know how important this is to you, it's a great job. We both can have our own path."

"It's an opportunity he can't refuse, and if you get it once in your life, it's you're lucky," Alexis said. "He loves Washington. We all did it. But it's Alabama."

Outside the Deboer family, there may be speculation that Alexis will join her family in Alabama’s national ranking softball program, but she said it was never considered.

“I never want to leave this place,” said Alexis, whose father had been following Washington when he was Indiana’s offensive coordinator in 2019. No second thought, because I trust Coach Taal and this coachman and what we built here. ”

Kalen and Nicole are able to see several Alexis games this season. Coincidentally, her first hit percentage against Alabama in Tucson, Arizona, was against Alabama, and two days later, her first home run was against the Crimson trend. Deboer was there in both games.

"It's nice to know they're there. We've always been a close family," Alexis said. "I've always felt supportive across the country even if they're not there."

And, she said, she could always hear her father’s instructions – right rhythm, load correctly, keeping a line-driven mindset, heading to the opposite territory – behind her head.

"Even if he's not there, I'm going to take him a little to every game I play," Alexis said.

For Kalen, it was almost fulfilling to be able to watch his kids play in a playoff setting. Although he won't make any key decisions, there will definitely be some tense moments for the entire family.

"She has a lot of attention to her for different reasons, and she has a solid and steady focus on every aspect," Karen said. "She is happy. That's what you want as a parent. She has some amazing friends there and I can't tell you how much I appreciate those friends, even their parents, and the way the Washington family takes care of her.

“She is where she should be.”