Let’s take a moment out of our Regional excitement and congratulate Hokie Alum Kaleigh Addington on obtaining her Doctorate Degree yesterday. Kaleigh played softball for the Hokies from 2018-2022 and served as a video analyst in 2023. She was named to ACC Academic Honor Roll three times. Although she only appeared in 17 games during her five years, Coach D’Amour called her “the most improved hitter I’ve ever coached,” and more importantly said, “she’s right up there with the hardest worker of all time.” I will never forget her first career hit, a two-run bomb to left-center field against Radford in 2021. The Hokie dugout exploded and the fans at Tech Softball Park went crazy. Kaleigh graduated from VT with a 4.0 average with a BS in meteorology and geography and then a Masters degree in geography. This week, she obtained her doctorate degree at Mississippi State – officially it a “Doctor of Philosophy in Earth and Atmosphere Sciences.” Whew. She is the proverbial “storm chaser” and last year, she flew on NOAA 42 (a hurricane hunter aircraft) on a mission into Tropical Storm Imelda. Coach Pete often says that his players will be successful in life and Kaleigh is a living example of that. CONGRATULATIONS, KAYLEIGH.