A Minor Setback for the Emerson All-Star

Running to your position with a college team branded across your chest is a unique experience that not every athlete will have the opportunity to encounter. For this reason, there is stiff competition to grab a spot in this elite sports world, but even then, nothing is guaranteed. Starting lineups and rosters can always change making even the slightest difference in performance a career breaker in certain situations. Unfortunately for the athletes, this can easily make an injury become their worst nightmare.

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With fifteen years of softball under her belt, Connecticut native Kelsey Tuthill walked onto the Emerson College softball team ready to compete for a starting role. After surpassing expectations and taking the Lions to the 2009 NCAA tournament, she found herself in a new battle with the one thing that had always been on her side: her body. In only a matter of one year, constant shoulder and elbow pain threatened her well-earned role with the Lions, but with patience and rehab she is ready for the 2011 season.

Tuthill, who began her exceptional softball career in T-Ball, found her niche on the mound at the ripe age of 9. With the support from her father, Mike Tuthill, she instantly fell for everything the position entailed but especially the competitive aspect. Having her older sister, Emily, as a catcher and her younger sister, Whitney, who shared the mound, Tuthill feels that there was always enough sibling rivalry and motivation for her to improve. “My main supporter has been my dad, but mentally wanting to be better than Whit has always been a big motivation for me,” laughed Tuthill about her continuing rivalry with her sister.  

Tuthill’s hard work paid off as she went on to be a four-year letter winner at CT Suffield Academy and was named to the Western New England Prep School Softball Association (WNEPPSA) All-Star team her senior year for her exceptional offensive and defensive play. However, even with this recognition, she was never given the chance to fully prove herself and own the circle. That was until two years ago, when she decided to continue her softball career at Emerson College. Nobody could have imagined that she would accumulate a .333 batting average and impressively sit down 212 batters with a 1.09 ERA as a rookie to the college game. Not even head coach Phil McElroy could have anticipated her standout performance on the mound and powerhouse action at the plate. “With Kelsey, I wasn’t sure what we were going to get, but I knew that if we got her we were going to win a lot of games,” said McElroy.

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Sure enough, the 5’7” freshman quickly became the driving force for the Lions' 2009 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) title win. While she dominated the mound, she also helped herself out with her bat ending the season with a .423 slugging percentage and 17 RBI’s.

Aside from her performance on the field, McElroy believes she brought a lot more to the Emerson squad. “When she came in, she brought back a lot of respect for the game that we were missing,” said McElroy in speaking about Tuthill as a player and team leader.

At the end of the 2009 season, only good things looked to be in Tuthill’s future as the Lions' ace. Then during preseason workouts, her body began to fight back causing the basics of the game to be difficult tasks. Instead of competing with the pitching staff for playing time, Tuthill was now left to compete with her own body. “In many ways I did not feel like the pitcher I know I am capable of being. My ball didn’t have the movement it used too and my stamina was greatly diminished. I wasn’t able to pitch two games in a row anymore,” said Tuthill of her capabilities last season.

The undiagnosed injury allowed her to throw only 77.7 innings during her sophomore season, which was less than half of the time she had spent on the mound in 2009. Regardless, Tuthill’s statistics were still among the best in the conference but that was not good enough for her.

Throughout the summer and fall, Tuthill spent many hours in the training room to strengthen her arm and be as effective as she was her freshman year. Now with her junior season arriving, she is more than ready to prove herself again and establish a new role with the Lions.

Though she has appreciated everything that comes with being a pitcher, her injury has made her reevaluate the player she is now, “I understand my limits a little better than I did. If it hurts I know I need to take a second, whereas my freshman year I would go all out and deal with the repercussions later.”

During spring break, Tuthill and the Lions will begin the 2011 season in California with a slew of ten games.