Michaela Edenfield never takes a day off from serving looks on the softball field.
Each game day with the Texas Volts, she creates a new eye makeup look that paints across her lids and temples, but it very well could grace a canvas.
Throughout her illustrious career at Florida State, Edenfield gained recognition on the softball field and TikTok in rapid fashion. Her long home runs, skills as a catcher, and colorful makeup looks gained her a following.
Now in her second year as a pro with the Texas Volts, Edenfield has nearly 155,000 TikTok followers and over 71,000 on Instagram.
“Owning the word unique has really changed my mindset on the field and in my daily personal life,” Edenfield told ESPN reporter Alyssa Haduck.
From ESPN: Michaela Edenfield’s makeup is her competitive advantage
In a feature during her senior year at Florida State, Edenfield explained how sports and makeup not only collided in her life but also fueled her confidence. From a young age, she viewed makeup as the standard to get ready for the day. But it was also a crutch for the insecurities she felt, the differences she saw in her skin and hair compared to the girls who were popular at her school growing up in a rural town in the Florida Panhandle.
Edenfield loved watching clips of RuPaul’s Drag Race on YouTube. As the drag queens dolled up and performed in challenges on the show, she admired their confidence. With the insecurities and bullying she faced, she wondered, “How could I get that confidence?”
The first answer was softball. Edenfield’s mom, Tami Powell, and older sister, Aliesha, both played. Her aunt, Teresa Fecteau, was an FSU softball player from 1997 through 2000.
Read: Michaela Edenfield is following in her grandfather Roy’s footsteps
“Sports were my escape where I could truly be myself,” she said. “I found confidence within my teammates.”
What began as asking her pitchers what color she should do her eye makeup morphed into a pregame routine, and when the Seminoles reached the 2022 Women’s College World Series with Edenfield as their starting catcher, her play and makeup took off. Edenfield was named to the WCWS All-Tournament Team. In her career at FSU, she started in 239 games and ranks second in program history for career slugging percentage, third all-time in home runs, and fifth all-time in RBI.
Now, she’s beloved on the Volts for the same reason fans gravitated towards her in college: her personable presence, vulnerability in her journey, and, of course, the much-anticipated creativity she brings to the ball field.
“I love who I am now outside of the sport. I love that I can do my makeup, and people want to tune into it and want to know what products I use,” she said. “I wish I could have gone back in time to tell little Michaela that it was going to be just fine. Eventually, you’re going to find your own confidence around the people that matter the most.”
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter for the AUSL. You can follow her on Instagram @savvyco.
