Maryland Love Connection: Jimmy and Becca Reed

Becca Pang (Gymnastics, 2009-12) and Jimmy Reed (Baseball, 2010-13) grew up about as far apart from each other as possible. Becca hails from Hawaii, a day-long trip from Maryland area airports. Jimmy grew up in the shadow of our nation's capital, near the University of Maryland's campus. They likely would have never met if their athletic careers had not brought them to College Park.

Yet Becca's gymnastic talents and Jimmy's aptitude on the baseball diamond saw their collegiate careers at Maryland overlap for three years. So, naturally, they didn't officially meet until the winter of that third year.

In quintessential Maryland fashion, Jimmy formally introduced himself to Becca in a College Park staple; RJ Bentley's. The relationships Jimmy had made with members of the gymnastics team opened the door for his first conversation with Becca.

"Jimmy was good friends with a couple of my teammates," Becca said. 

"I remember I didn't know who he was at first, but one of my teammates was like, 'Oh, he's a baseball player, he's fine!'. So after meeting, I heard great things about him from my teammates who are friends with him," She continued. "He asked for my number that night and we started talking from there."

Jimmy looks back on their first conversation fondly.

"It wasn't that I was nervous," Jimmy recalled. "It was just, you know when you meet someone new and you are interested in them, you want them to be interested in you, too. So I was hopeful that she was interested in me, but I wouldn't say that I was nervous."

"(Jimmy didn't use) a one-liner or a pickup line or anything like that. We met, and then after that I felt like I kept running into him … and then we would meet up for lunch when we could and we started talking a lot," Becca said.

The couple used their limited time outside of their athletic responsibilities to grab food and chat. They frequented the Stamp Student Union restaurants, and their first official 'date' was at Ratsie's, a College Park pizza place and social staple for students until it closed in mid-2015. 

Becca treated Jimmy to mozzarella sticks for his birthday, and the two were off and running. They would share the commute down campus from the journalism school (both Becca and Jimmy were journalism majors, and coincidentally seemed to find each other in the hallways of Knight Hall much more frequently after their official introduction at Bentley's) for a quick lunch date at Stamp. Jimmy opted for Panda Express (he was saddened by the departure of McDonald's from the Student Union). 

"I would get SaladWorks," Becca said with a laugh.

Because their athletic seasons didn't line up, they made the most of the few moments they had together. Becca fondly remembers nights spent in the news bubble on Knight's first floor, a room dedicated to cutting up clips of reporting tapes for publishing outlets or class assignments.

"Jimmy was on the print track and I did broadcast. I remember he had to do a news package, and I helped him with some of the editing because it was something that I loved to do," Becca said. 

The two made the most of their time together during Becca's senior year, especially when introducing themselves to each other's families.

"I met Jimmy's parents at his baseball games. Since he's from Maryland, they were able to come to most of, if not all of his home games," Becca said. "Jimmy met my parents around the same time too."

While their relationship at Maryland was fresh and new by the time Becca graduated later that year, the few months Becca and Jimmy spent on campus together set the foundation for the years ahead. The first year the two spent 'apart' genuinely strengthened their bond.

Jimmy actually had the opportunity to leave school following his junior season as he was drafted in the 21st round of the MLB Draft by the New York Yankees. Jimmy opted to return for his senior season and in 2013 led the Terps with a 6-4 record and a 2.33 ERA with 74 strikeouts.

"After Becca graduated she moved to Florida, and we kept on seeing each other. I came down to visit a few times and she would come up and visit me at Maryland. That was when we started to get more serious," Jimmy said.

"The fact that we wanted to stay together and do long-distance I feel was like the next step," Becca echoed.

The distance would grow greater before the two settled down together. Jimmy's baseball career took him to the Cape Cod League before the St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in the 6th round of the 2013 MLB Draft. The two were there for each other through it all. 

While bouncing around in the minor leagues, Jimmy played in Springfield, Missouri, Palm Beach, Florida, Peoria, Illinois, and Memphis, Tennessee, throughout his two-year professional career. 

Growing her own budding career, Becca did her share of moving. Florida was her first stop after leaving College Park before a brief stop in Georgia gave way to a more extended stay in Austin, Texas.

"I remember my grandma being worried about me moving to Austin to live with Becca, like 'Why are you leaving? Why are you moving out of Maryland and D.C.?' I remember my mom saying, 'Because he's with Becca, and that's his girlfriend, and they're going to go live together!'... we had been together for a while, we were older," Jimmy said.

"I think both of our parents were supportive of our relationship and liked each of us," Becca said.

While in Austin, Becca put her journalism degree to use with an emerging sports media company covering a variety of collegiate sports, including gymnastics. Becca was involved with live streaming competitions, writing about gymnastics, editing videos about gymnastics. That company would go on to become FloSports.

“I covered gymnastics meets all over the country and world, and even covered some meets that Maryland was competing in," recalled Becca. "Without my background doing gymnastics along with my journalism degree from Maryland that wouldn't have been possible.”

Becca would take advantage of weekends off from internships and work to travel to wherever Jimmy was playing. The two lived together in Austin during the baseball offseason, giving them valuable time together and allowing Jimmy to gear up for the upcoming season in the warm Texas winter.

After a few years together, the topic of marriage came to the forefront of Becca and Jimmy's relationship.

Once Jimmy secured a ring "that [Becca] was actually going to like," he had to think of the perfect setting to mark the next milestone in their relationship. Wanting to make sure it was the right moment, Jimmy held the ring for a couple of months before popping the question.

"We were like, ‘Yeah we should go on a trip’, and that was when we were planning our trip to Thailand," Jimmy said. "I was like, 'Oh, this will actually line up well. It'll be an awesome trip and it's right around her birthday, so I can combine this nice, fun trip with her birthday and the proposal.'"

Although Jimmy laid out the proposal perfectly to provide the expected romance, he still found himself nervous beforehand.

"Leading up to [the proposal] I was really nervous. Like, really nervous. Basically all day," Jimmy said.

He carried the ring around in his pocket, outside its protective box, an additional stressor on top of a more heartfelt, romantic, and expected source of nerves.

"I was also just nervous about making sure everything went well and it was going to be the right experience that she would want to appreciate … I wanted it to be something intimate," Jimmy said.

Jimmy got down on one knee during dinner as the soon-to-be fiances took in the beautiful Thai horizon from their table at a rooftop restaurant. 

"I didn't even know what I was going to say," Jimmy said, recounting his peaking nerves.

"At dinner, I could definitely tell he was nervous. I just remembered him not talking much, and I think I must have asked, 'Why aren't you talking?' Becca said with a laugh.

During Becca and Jimmy's 11-month engagement, the couple moved back to the D.C. area. So enamored with the region, they held their wedding in Georgetown and booked the venue before seeing it in person. 

A cornerstone of their magical day was the attendance of old teammates and friends from the newlyweds' time at Maryland. Two Maryland baseball and gymnastics alumni were in the groom and bridal parties (with plenty more outside of those small groups), making for a get-together reminiscent of a big reunion.

"It felt like a big party," Becca said. "Well, it was a big party. A lot of dancing and old teammates out on the dancefloor having fun, making fools of themselves."

The couple moved out to the West Coast in November of 2021, a move spurred on by new opportunities at work for Jimmy and the ability to work remotely for Becca. But the move appealed to them for some time and made much sense outside their careers.

"We love the environment here, the style of living," Jimmy said. "Also, geographically speaking, it's closer to where Becca's family is [in Hawaii]. It's also a part of the country that we've never lived in before, so we wanted to try it out and see what it's like."

Earlier this year, Jimmy and Becca welcomed Brooklyn, their first child, into the world. 

"It's been wonderful having this addition to our family. Brooklyn is the sweetest, cutest little baby," Becca said. "Now that she's a couple months old and able to interact with us a little more, it's a lot of fun seeing her smile at us now."

"It's fun to show her around and show her the world now," she added.

And although the two have adjusted to the changes in their lifestyle (primarily a wonky sleep schedule and constant monitoring, Jimmy says), they could not be more excited to see what the future has in store for her.

"What I'm most excited for is to see her continue to develop a personality and become her own person," Jimmy said.

"I'm excited to travel with her and bring her back to Hawaii," Becca said, adding that she wants her to be able to see the world like Becca has.

There's a chance that Brooklyn will travel to College Park to attend Maryland herself, Becca says. But, of course, it's just a bit early to make that decision for sure. 

But family ties are a big reason for the Reed's meeting in the first place, after all.

"I have a huge Maryland backstory…multiple family members went there, I grew up in the area watching Maryland basketball and Maryland football," Jimmy said on his familial history with the Terps.

"To have had the opportunity to have gone there to play for a great baseball program, to have lifelong friends, and to have met my wife there, that school means everything to me," he added.

While Becca's path to Maryland was less family-history based, she shares the same sentiments as Jimmy looking back on her time as a Terp, feelings that rise up every time she sees a Maryland license plate or flag on the West Coast.

"I'm so grateful that I went there and so grateful that I met Jimmy there and developed the friendships that I did," she said. "Maryland will always be special to me."