Crossword Genius

One hitting the ball softly and early, perhaps (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

player

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'one hitting the ball' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'softly and early perhaps' is the wordplay.
'softly' becomes 'p' (short for piano, musical term for softly).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'perhaps' is an anagram indicator.
'early' with letters rearranged gives 'layer'.
'p'+'layer'='PLAYER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for player that I've seen before include "Performer" , "Participant in sport or game" , "Game's participant" , "Actor; sportsman" , "Actor - footballer?" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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