Kassidy Krupit is a pitcher/infielder for the East Cobb Bullets - Schnute team and was ranked #37 in the most recent in the FloSoftball 2018 Hot 100. A three-time Georgia All-State honoree, she was the Region Player of the Year last fall and also earned County Pitcher of the Year for her Lambert High (Suwanee, Georgia) squad. She set school records in 2016 with 13 shutouts and a 0.82 ERA while batting .580 for the Bullets. The junior is committed to the University of Delaware.

But it hasn't been an easy journey for the outstanding prospect; she details here how she's had to overcome many obstacles on her way...

It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe. - Muhammad Ali

He is exactly right and my way of translating this is to take on your biggest challenges or obstacles coming your way.

When I was ten, I had faced the biggest obstacle of my life, tearing my ACL and breaking my tibia sliding into third base during a softball game. I thought this injury would inhibit me from continuing to do what I love which is playing softball. I had to continuously go to physical therapy for about a year. I not only had to prepare physically to get back on the field, but I had to prepare mentally.

My physical therapist told me that many (approximately 85%) athletes don't return to the field after an injury like this, but that just motivated me even more to start playing again. I was never going to let a stupid, yet, challenging injury stop me from doing what I love. I prepared physically and mentally to get back on the field.

Not much later, I found myself back in the same physical therapy clinic, but this time it was for a different obstacle. My arm had been hurting bad; it was to the point where I couldn't brush my hair, it hurt that much. What was wrong was I had small tears in my rotator cuff and had been diagnosed with tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), golfers elbow (medial epicondylitis), bursitis, and radial tunnel syndrome.

Yes, that is an abundance of injuries for only one arm but hey, I am a pitcher. The even worse part of this was that I was going through the recruiting process at this time (8th & 9th grade).

I therefore didn't have a choice but to pitch through all these injuries at a lot of camps and college showcases with a great quantity of pain. In addition to my arm injuries, another obstacle hit me at the same exact time. I was told I wasn't tall enough to pitch at some of my dream schools, not only that, but I wasn't left handed either. Some coaches had their mind set about what they wanted in a pitcher when I walked onto their campus after wasting money and time to come.

After a couple of stressful recruiting years with my arm injuries and physical obstacles, I trusted Christ and pushed through it. I took a couple of weeks off for my arm to heal (at least some) and worked my butt off to earn scholarship offers from a choice of top notch schools. Even though I still had pain in my arm and was still being told "you're too short" or "you're not left handed", it wasn't going to stop me from still trusting God and pushing through this process. Even though I had some offers, they still weren't the ideal schools I was looking for. It's a big factor of my life and I wanted to make the right decision where there was a mutuality between them (the coaches and environment) loving me and me loving the school.

Eventually, I made the best decision of my life and decided to commit to the University of Delaware, the number one physical therapy school in the nation! I chose physical therapy because of the influence it's had on me, helping me push through these challenges. The winter after I committed, I finally had time to take off from pitching so my arm could fully heal. I'm back now, all healed up after pitching my high school team to a state championship appearance the fall after I took three months off (the previous winter) for my arm.



From tearing my ACL to injuring my arm badly to being told I wasn't tall enough or left handed all taught me life lessons. If you want something so freaking badly, you have to earn all of it by pushing through your biggest obstacles along the way. That's the biggest life lesson I have ever learned and will ever learn. This whole process has made me a better person every day and still is. I still have goals I'm GOING to achieve.

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