When the signing day ceremony came to a close on Wednesday, Newton’s Aaliyah Parsons was officially an Albany State Golden Ram.

Parsons signed her national letter of intent inside a packed Newton auditorium as family, friends, coaches and teammates looked on.

When it was all said and done, Parsons was relieved to know the recruiting process was at its end.

“I feel like I am finally settled down somewhere and I have less worries about trying to find a place to [call] home,” Parsons said. “I am feeling very calmed and happy.”

The signing started with remarks from head coach Erica Johnson, who celebrated her first ever singing as the Lady Rams’ head coach.

For Parsons, the decision to become a Golden Ram came down to the feel of the university.

“When I visited the campus it felt like home,” Parsons said. “The environment felt like home. I can see myself living there for my four years of college and feeling safe.”

Parsons knew from a young age that she could play softball at the highest level, and she credited multiple people for pushing her along the way.

“Maybe when I was 12 because I saw a lot of development — how fast I could develop playing softball,” Parsons said. “My parents saw a lot of potential, my coaches saw a lot of potential. That really pushed me to want to go to the next level.”

During her Newton career, Parsons has put up her fair share of quality stats and accolades.

As a junior and senior, Parsons totaled 59 hits and 35 RBIs as she increased her average from .378 to .431 in those two seasons.

Parsons was named to the First Team All-Region for Region 4-AAAAAA in both of her final two seasons.

With her high school career in the books, Parsons closed out her signing day by explaining how her Newton and travel ball careers helped her prepare for her new journey at Albany State.

“Travel [ball] has done a lot of training for me in practice. We work really hard in practice during travel ball so it really pushed me to the next level,” Parsons said. “For school ball, it has helped me with workouts or during winter workouts or whether it is us in the weight room getting stronger — all of those contributed to me getting better.”