Congrats riseball! This deserves a post of its own

[obbay]

Congratulations to you and your DD from one who is just starting the recruiting process (9th grade).

 

[SoAZDad]

Congratulations RB!! If I were you, I'd be beaming with pride and just flat-out happy.

 

[Lobster Birch]

You must be very proud of her, and deservedly so.

 

[RetiredCoach]

Congratulations to you and your DD RiseBall!!! As much as I have enjoyed your many other posts, I think that I have enjoyed hearing about your DDs success the most. A very happy story, and thanks for sharing!

 

[pctrips]

Congrats to your DD!

 

[Crystal Brown]

Congratulations to your dd!

 

[KCM]

Cool. My wife graduated from USC and I drank my way out of USC. Great college with good student life. We usually go to 3 or 4 USC softball games a year.

 

[riseball]

I'll go one further...the RB DD story of going JUCO first just screams of a good backstory. I think it would be very helpful for him to share it. I get the impression that it was a matter of not settling for a less than desirable offer out of HS and deciding to double down on effort, take the two years and then go for the gold. I could be way off base on my dot connecting but it seems like a great story.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. It has been a very interesting journey so far. Jake as she in known (long story) held her own against the Gators last Sunday and signed the NLI for Carolina today. JJ is correct that she definitely took a different path than most and far from what we had originally expected. Things changed significantly for her almost 3 years ago to the day on 11/11/2011 when she had surgery on both feet. Kid had the feet of an 80 year old woman and needed a bilateral bunionectomy on both feet. Basically they broke both her feet, inserted screws and she went to school a week later in a wheel chair. Fun times! Unknown to us she also had a torn MCL from HS Fall game 2 days before surgery that would complicate things during the recovery. Although recruited by some pretty good teams that went by the wayside when she spent about 6 or so months out of the circle going to physical therapy. She had been throwing mid-60s and struggled to pop 60 early in the summer of 2102 before her Senior year.

She fought hard and started getting some offers. But nothing she could really get excited about. Ultimately she was approached by one of the best JUCOS in the country with Wife and Husband Head Coaches that are extremely well connected to SEC and ACC teams. They had seen her pitch a year before the surgery and really liked what they saw. In September of 2012 I took her and the TB team to the Florida Panhandle where now fully healed she went into the circle. After the game the Head Coaches pulled us into the office and said they had never been shut down by a TB pitcher! Mrs. Coach was quite animated and offered her a full ride on the spot. Even agreed to pay for her parking decal. Jake wanted to think on it so we headed back to Orlando. About 1 week later I sat her down and asked her what she was going to do? She agreed that if she did her part this would probably get her where she wanted which was to pitch in the SEC. She called Mrs. Coach and committed. Then a couple months later signed her first NLI to attend Chipola College. At the signing ceremony at her High School some snickered at her going JUCO but she had a plan.

When she arrived on campus in August of 2013 she told her coaches that dream school was SC. They called Bev Smith and got on the schedule for Fall of 2014. She went all in her first year at Chiploa, got strong and packed on some weight. About 30 lbs in the right places. None of her clothes fit but she was ecstatic. She had a great Freshman season and finished 3rd (?) in NJCAA in K's leading all Freshman. After the Florida NJCAA tournament last spring things really got crazy with interest and even offers from schools across the spectrum. From big D1's to some I never heard of before. Most like Purdue were interested in her for 2016 but some like Mizzou wanted her to join them in 2015! Coach EE was very persuasive but in the end it was too soon and too fast. DW and I were going nuts. Her dream has always been to pitch in the SEC and here she was turning it down, hoping something would happen with SC.

SC had seen her throw at Diamond 9 at Disney in early June and she texted SC Head Coach Bev Smith at least once a week until she got the opportunity to throw against SC in Columbia in early October. Jake threw 5 quality innings in what turned out to be a 10 inning slugfest between Chiploa and SC. After that weekend they invited her up for an official visit 3 weeks later. That whole experience was surreal. Weather was awful but we could tell it was a great fit. Sunday morning we went to breakfast at Jakes absolute favorite restaurant, Panera. It was there that she got the offer of her dreams. Jake played it cool and waited a full 24 hours before saying yes to becoming a Gamecock. She will head to Columbia in the summer to get a jump on some classes but until then she is focused on a Florida and National NJCAA championship at Chiploa.

 

[MsDinosaur]

Thank you, RB. What a wonderful story of a kid with a huge heart! Too bad she didn't want Mizzou though... ;-)

 

[AndyS]

Awesome story RB thanks for sharing. That story is chocked full of life lessons. The fact your DD had a goal and was willing to make the sacrifices to make it happen is fundamental and sadly all too rare these days. We live in an instant gratification world. Then she put ego aside in the short term to achieve the long term even while those at her high school snickered. And last but not least, being resilient enough to bounce back from the injury. I could go on but those traits transcend the softball field and you should be very proud of her. Again great story and thank you for sharing.

And massive kudos go to you and your wife in supporting her dream. I honestly believe it takes a village to raise a pitcher!