Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Into the Woods with Paige Cook
May 08, 2020 | Softball, HailStateBEAT
by Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications
STARKVILLE – BANG! The rifle cracked to life, disturbing the still silence that had preceded it, but not Paige Cook. She continued to sleep right through it.
That was nearly a decade ago, on one of the freshman infielder's earliest hunting trips with her father, Eric, but even now she almost sleeps through the action. This week, the Cooks planned to go in search of turkey, which meant a 5:30 a.m. wakeup call.
"It's actually a lot of my dad yelling at me to get up, and then basically just throwing my hunting clothes on, grab the gun and walk out the door," she said.
Paige has been hunting since she was six years old. At first, she just observed, learning what she should and shouldn't do. The Cooks were hunting deer back then, and she was surprised by how much preparation went into it.
On top of learning to be quiet and still, Eric taught her about the importance of making sure her clothes had the right scent. She was a little too good at being quiet, though. She spent a lot of time napping in the deer stand, and her father would wake her up once he'd spotted one.
By 6 a.m. the Cooks are hiking through the woods. Paige is used to this, but turkeys are a new target since the season overlaps with her softball season.
"I've never really had a chance to go turkey hunting until now," she said. "This is like my one and only chance to go turkey hunting, until I get done with college of course."
Once again, Paige has been surprised by the ways she has to prepare herself. Turkeys are very different from deer and present new challenges.
"You have to have a face mask and everything since their eyesight is so good they can see you blinking your eyes," she said. "You have to be very careful with what you're doing because they'll get spooked instantly, and then you'll have such a hard time finding them again because they change their whole routine."
The Cooks live in Cornelia, Georgia, a small town in Habersham County less than 45 minutes from the South Carolina border. It's so small that some of her travel ball teammates in the state had never heard of it.
"One of the main reasons why I fell in love with Starkville is because it reminded me so much of home," Paige said. "People would always tell me, 'Why are you moving so far away? Why don't you go to school or play softball closer to home?' But Starkville felt like home to me. I didn't feel like I was five and a half hours away from home. I felt like I was just right down the road."
Hunting, hiking, fishing and four-wheeling were her go-to activities growing up. Softball wasn't a big part of the picture early on. Paige was a soccer player, and a pretty good one. But once some of her friends switched over to the diamond, she followed along.
The switch didn't come easily.
"When I say I struck out every at bat, I struck out every single at bat," she said. "But for some reason, there was just something about it, it made me want to keep trying, keep going."
Eric put his daughter in lessons and she saw improvement. Paige eventually chose softball over soccer and cheerleading and decided to stick with it. She still remembers the moment she realized she'd made the right decision.
At 10 years old, Paige got a new bat, one that her mom wasn't too happy about Eric buying. She stepped up to the plate for the first time with it, and finally cracked a solid hit.
"I definitely had two strikes on me because I fouled one off and just completely whiffed at one of them," she remembered. "I hit one to right-center, it went all the way to the fence."
As she raced around the bases, Eric, who was coaching that season, came running to the plate with her. She crossed the plate for an inside-the-park homer and he immediately embraced her.
"My dad picked me up off the ground and started jumping up and down just yelling because I had actually just gotten my first good hit playing the sport."
That moment is a reminder to her to have patience, stay determined and keep her confidence. It helps when she finds herself in a slump at the plate. She used to get frustrated when things weren't going her way, but she has a simple answer for how she stays in the right mindset.
"I'm here for a reason," she said. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't good enough. I wouldn't be put in this situation if I wasn't supposed to be — if I hadn't earned it."
Back in the woods, it can be easy to get frustrated, to give up, when the deer and the birds are nowhere to be found. Paige was still looking to get her first turkey when she and Eric headed out the door that morning.
Eric handles the calling because Paige hasn't had time to master it yet. She could hear the bird gobbling somewhere out in front of her, but she couldn't see it because of a few deer that were standing in her way.
She stayed patient until the turkey waddled into her sights. She didn't sleep through the hunt this time. She pulled the trigger and bagged her first bird.
"My dad always picks me up and hugs me whenever I do something great," Paige said. "Great moments like that he always picks me up off the ground and hugs me. It's just a moment of accomplishment."
True to form, an excited Eric came running over to admire her work. He scooped her up in a big hug, the same way he had when she was 10 years old and crossing home plate.
STARKVILLE – BANG! The rifle cracked to life, disturbing the still silence that had preceded it, but not Paige Cook. She continued to sleep right through it.
That was nearly a decade ago, on one of the freshman infielder's earliest hunting trips with her father, Eric, but even now she almost sleeps through the action. This week, the Cooks planned to go in search of turkey, which meant a 5:30 a.m. wakeup call.
"It's actually a lot of my dad yelling at me to get up, and then basically just throwing my hunting clothes on, grab the gun and walk out the door," she said.
Paige has been hunting since she was six years old. At first, she just observed, learning what she should and shouldn't do. The Cooks were hunting deer back then, and she was surprised by how much preparation went into it.
On top of learning to be quiet and still, Eric taught her about the importance of making sure her clothes had the right scent. She was a little too good at being quiet, though. She spent a lot of time napping in the deer stand, and her father would wake her up once he'd spotted one.
By 6 a.m. the Cooks are hiking through the woods. Paige is used to this, but turkeys are a new target since the season overlaps with her softball season.
"I've never really had a chance to go turkey hunting until now," she said. "This is like my one and only chance to go turkey hunting, until I get done with college of course."
Once again, Paige has been surprised by the ways she has to prepare herself. Turkeys are very different from deer and present new challenges.
"You have to have a face mask and everything since their eyesight is so good they can see you blinking your eyes," she said. "You have to be very careful with what you're doing because they'll get spooked instantly, and then you'll have such a hard time finding them again because they change their whole routine."
The Cooks live in Cornelia, Georgia, a small town in Habersham County less than 45 minutes from the South Carolina border. It's so small that some of her travel ball teammates in the state had never heard of it.
"One of the main reasons why I fell in love with Starkville is because it reminded me so much of home," Paige said. "People would always tell me, 'Why are you moving so far away? Why don't you go to school or play softball closer to home?' But Starkville felt like home to me. I didn't feel like I was five and a half hours away from home. I felt like I was just right down the road."
Hunting, hiking, fishing and four-wheeling were her go-to activities growing up. Softball wasn't a big part of the picture early on. Paige was a soccer player, and a pretty good one. But once some of her friends switched over to the diamond, she followed along.
The switch didn't come easily.
"When I say I struck out every at bat, I struck out every single at bat," she said. "But for some reason, there was just something about it, it made me want to keep trying, keep going."
Eric put his daughter in lessons and she saw improvement. Paige eventually chose softball over soccer and cheerleading and decided to stick with it. She still remembers the moment she realized she'd made the right decision.
At 10 years old, Paige got a new bat, one that her mom wasn't too happy about Eric buying. She stepped up to the plate for the first time with it, and finally cracked a solid hit.
"I definitely had two strikes on me because I fouled one off and just completely whiffed at one of them," she remembered. "I hit one to right-center, it went all the way to the fence."
As she raced around the bases, Eric, who was coaching that season, came running to the plate with her. She crossed the plate for an inside-the-park homer and he immediately embraced her.
"My dad picked me up off the ground and started jumping up and down just yelling because I had actually just gotten my first good hit playing the sport."
That moment is a reminder to her to have patience, stay determined and keep her confidence. It helps when she finds herself in a slump at the plate. She used to get frustrated when things weren't going her way, but she has a simple answer for how she stays in the right mindset.
"I'm here for a reason," she said. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't good enough. I wouldn't be put in this situation if I wasn't supposed to be — if I hadn't earned it."
Back in the woods, it can be easy to get frustrated, to give up, when the deer and the birds are nowhere to be found. Paige was still looking to get her first turkey when she and Eric headed out the door that morning.
Eric handles the calling because Paige hasn't had time to master it yet. She could hear the bird gobbling somewhere out in front of her, but she couldn't see it because of a few deer that were standing in her way.
She stayed patient until the turkey waddled into her sights. She didn't sleep through the hunt this time. She pulled the trigger and bagged her first bird.
"My dad always picks me up and hugs me whenever I do something great," Paige said. "Great moments like that he always picks me up off the ground and hugs me. It's just a moment of accomplishment."
True to form, an excited Eric came running over to admire her work. He scooped her up in a big hug, the same way he had when she was 10 years old and crossing home plate.
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