Former NFL/CFL athlete Demetrius Crawford, known for his hard work and dedication, wanted to instill that in his daughter. Devaeh Crawford was born in 2010 and has been under her father’s wing since the day she was born. At just 11 years old, she has created quite a buzz for herself in the softball world playing travel ball and is also a viral sensation like her father. Devaeh has been featured on Sandlot to the Show on Sports Center, Extra Innings Softball, FLOSoftball, and has had thousands of views on Instagram and TikTok under her account @se7enszn. It all started at the age of two, when Devaeh would receive a pink softball bat for Christmas from her father. From then, she fell in love with the sport.
Extra Innings Softball writer Carlos Arias did a piece on Devaeh calling her “The LBJ of softball.” That’s a major alley-oop and Devaeh hasn’t even scratched the surface yet. One thing that fuels that compliment is the drive, focus and work ethic that she displays on and off the field. This is vintage Demetrius Crawford who displayed the same in his quest to getting picked up in the professional ranks after going undrafted out of Montana State before setting the social media trail a blaze and displaying his attributes.
Demetrius jumped all in when knowing his daughter wanted to play softball and he has taking it very serious. Taking her to multiple college games to watch some players she loves to watch compete. To training and teaching her his mantra Outwork Everybody standards. As well as the commitment to drive her to her National ranked Corona Angels 12u team 3hrs away from their home in Las Vegas after moving from Fairfield, CA. All this is a part of a story just beginning.
Last summer, she led Universal Fastpitch 2010-Mercado to the PGF 1OU Premier Nationals. Being named team Captain as well as winning the Queen of the Hill Tournament Golden Glove Award. This year moving to help lead the Corona Angels to an Alliance Fastpitch and PGF Nationals Premier 12u birth and going viral in videos featured on Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, to being recognized by Hall of Fame Baseball Player Ken Griffey Jr.
So how Devaeh achieve so many things at such a young age? The Center Fielder has a mixture of focus, determination,workouts and support provided by her father. “She’s learning everything early I learned late.” Her training is nothing like the kids at her age, and even older than that. Her training methods include speed training, strength training, and explosive movements. Demetrius introduced her to some of his workouts including football specific ladder and cone drills to help with outfield training. Devaeh also runs in hills, runs in pools and even runs and train in the sand. If that wasn’t enough, she goes to hitting practice three to four times a week which includes having to hit 100 balls and grounders along with pop-ups do not count! Talk about intense training!
Devaeh is also hands on with her father’s organization, DreamChasersNeverSleep and has had her own line of hoodies she sold last year. On top of being inspired by her father, Devaeh has ambitions of her own. She wants to start her high school career by playing for Varsity as a freshman. After that, she has plans of going to college to get her education and play for a D1 college softball program. Her goals don’t stop there…. She even aspires to play in the Olympics one day. One thing is for sure, we will continue to see the rise of Devaeh Crawford as she continues her softball journey while Demetrius is able to ride off in the sunset.
