Naomi Perkins was an all-around standout athlete at Steelville High School.

Perkins was a multi-time All-District selection in basketball, softball, volleyball and track and an All-State selection in basketball and softball. 

Four years later, she has just concluded her collegiate career as a member of one of the best softball teams in the history of Evangel University.

This year’s Evangel Valors team had an .800 winning percentage, the highest in school history, and the team’s 44 wins were tied for the most in the program’s history. Evangel’s season ended with a loss on May 13 to Southeastern University in the semifinals of the NAIA National Championship, one game away from the school’s first appearance in the national championship.

While her career at Evangel ended on a high note, Perkins’ collegiate career didn’t start that way. In an interview, she described her freshman year as difficult and mentally challenging.

“It was definitely hard at first,” she said. “I remember it was just a lot of overthinking and just a lot of like external factors that were not great for our team, so that was for sure like a really hard transition.”

Perkins added that her friendship with her roommate and teammate, Kenna Mayfield, helped her keep going.

“My roommate my freshman year, Kenna, she and I grew up together. We have been best friends and I just definitely think our friendship made me want to stick it out.” Mayfield went on to set the school record for hits, triples and double plays fielded by an outfielder in her senior season.

Perkins also lauded her other teammates Anslee Leeviraphan, Ashland Diggs and Megan Stone for helping change the culture and mindset of the program.

“Anslee, Ashlyn, and Megan completely changed what they wanted Evangel softball to be. At first it was more about focusing on stats and yourself, but they really wanted to change that mentality,” Perkins said. “It’s not so much about us, but it’s about giving glory to our Lord, Jesus Christ. So I think that is just amazing, and it was so easy to buy into that. And that’s what made my transition from that first year into the second, third, and fourth years so easy.”

Perkins also credited the head coach, Jay Halbrook, for her growth, and the hitting coach, Rob Brice, for her improvement at the plate. 

“Halbrook just told me to keep going when things were tough my freshman year, and that paid off,” Perkins said. “Coach Rob really developed my swing and helped establish really good practice habits and what a really good, powerful swing should look like. So once I was able to trust myself and from all the positivity from our coaches and our teammates, I could play freely. I feel like it was just a lot healthier and a lot easier to just go up there and be confident.”

Perkins ended her freshman year hitting .250, getting better in each of her four years at Evangel. Her senior year was her best. She posted a .385 batting average with 67 hits, five triples and 23 stolen bases while winning a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference gold glove award for her play in centerfield. Perkins’ 67 hits and five triples were the seventh-highest single-season marks in Evangel University history, and her 23 steals are the 14th most.

Sibling throwing partners

In her final two seasons at Evangel, Perkins reunited with her sister, Marli Perkins, who was also a prominent athlete at Steelville High School. The Perkins duo played together in Steelville for two seasons, and Naomi said that the pair had grown closer after reconnecting in college.

“We’re throwing partners, which is super fun,” Naomi said. “But just seeing her develop and seeing her grow, not just as the player that she is, but the person that she’s become, is very sweet to see.”

The two sisters were coached by their father, Scott Perkins, at SHS. Naomi said that she fondly remembers being coached by her dad and playing alongside her sister for Steelville.

“My dad was my coach growing up, and then he got to coach my sister and me on the same team in high school, which was awesome,” Naomi said. “When she would pitch, I usually would be in center field. So it was just cool when she pitched because she’d turn around, and we would have a connection.”

Future plans — ‘Wherever the Lord leads us’

Naomi will stay close to her sister in Springfield for at least one more year. She will attend Missouri State University in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in occupational therapy.

The following year, she plans to get married to her longtime boyfriend, Wyatt Harris, a 2023 SHS graduate and star in basketball and track for the Cardinals. Harris now works in marketing for Brewer Science, Incorporated, in Rolla. 

Perkins said that the pair were undecided on where they will live in the future, but she hopes to stay within striking distance of her family in Steelville. She received her bachelor’s in pre-occupational therapy while minoring in coaching, biopsychology and disability studies and hopes to find a job working with special needs children.

“I want to work with kids who have special needs, so there aren’t a lot of job opportunities necessary in Steelville. But maybe in Rolla there might be, so we may not live right in Steelville, but wherever the Lord leads us is where we’re going to go.”

Family and community support

Perkins still has a significant interest in Steelville High School sports. Her youngest sister, Adalei Perkins, just finished her freshman year as a standout in volleyball, cross-country, basketball and track. Perkins’ second youngest sister, Emeri Perkins, is set to enter her senior year as a multi-time All-District selection in basketball, volleyball and track. Their parents, Scott and Dawn are fixtures at nearly every game. Perkins said that she’s thrilled to see the success of her younger sisters and the support system they have around them.

“It’s just been awesome to see Emeri and Adalei grow into athletes that I knew that they could be,” Perkins said. “I think at one point they didn’t believe they could be great, and it’s just awesome to see them now. Also, the support that they have from my parents and our family is something that we have always had, and I’m so grateful that they have that support system.”

Perkins said that she sees herself in all of her sisters when watching them compete in sports. 

“I see myself in all three of my sisters. I think Adalei’s a big competitor, and she does not like to lose. If she wants something, she’ll go after it. Emeri is built for big moments and she has that calm presence that I learned from my parents. Marley’s just got all of it, so I feel like we all have something that our parents passed down to us.”

Even though she chose to play softball in college, Perkins said that her favorite memory of her time at Steelville came as a member of the 2021 Lady Cardinals’ basketball team that finished third in the state. Steelville lost by one point in the state semifinals to Lift for Life Academy Charter and had to play one day later against Tipton. 

“We lost the sectional game to Live for Life, and then we had to come back the next day. So that was definitely a hard loss, because we wanted to obviously win state. But then the next day, we just felt this energy. I don’t even know what you would call it, but then we came back and we won that game and got third place. And honestly, it felt just like we were winning the championship.”

She praised the Steelville community for supporting its athletes. 

“How so many people in the community show up for state athletes, or any athlete in districts or sectionals, that’s definitely a memory I can remember the most.”