Taylor McQuillin is a 16-year-old incoming junior softball player at Mission Viejo (Calif.) High and had a strong year for the Diablos in 2013 hitting .416 with eight home runs.  A standout student with a 4.2 GPA, she has pitched for the OC Batbusters the last two years and will part of the new Batbusters team that has merged with Team Mizuno-Stith.

Perhaps Taylor’s greatest accomplishment is she has done all this despite having to overcome birth defects making her completely blind in the left eye and with only partial hearing on the left side. 

Here is her latest blog for Student Sports Softball… today, she talks about why she gave a verbal to a Big 12 university only to have to back away from it when something happened within her family…

Be sure to check out Taylor’s previous blogs here

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Being in such a competitive sport as softball means that I have had to prove to colleges that I am capable of being a recruit that they need for their school. It takes hard work, dedication, time, and energy, but if it means that much to me then I put in all the effort to make sure I get it done.

When it comes to recruiting, I was fortunate that top colleges noticed me when I was barely in high school. The recruiting ages these days are becoming younger and girls who are only 14 years old are being pushed to decide their future faster and sooner.

When I was a freshman in high school, I verbally committed to Oklahoma State University (OSU). I choose Oklahoma State because it was out of the box and it was so different from California.

I was looking for a college experience outside of California and a place farther away from home because I wanted to be able to learn how to be independent and see the world through a different perspective or a different lifestyle.

Another reason I choose to go to school in Oklahoma was because I want to be someone that makes a positive impact on a school’s program and someone that could go to a lesser known place (at least to many out here in California) and make myself an important contributor with the help of an amazing team.

I felt Oklahoma State fit all those things that I was looking for, but one thing happened outside my control that changed everything.

In March of my sophomore year—about six months ago—my father was diagnosed with a medical condition that is not curable. It obviously impacted my life and my entire family’s significantly and we knew that everything would be changed forever.

If anything, my father’s medical condition taught me that family comes first and no matter what, family is what you have.

About a month or so after we found out about my father’s situation, I choose to decommit from Oklahoma State due to my family situation so I could be more assessable him and be closer to home at all times.

The choice that I made was hard, but I knew it was right because if it meant being closer to my Dad, that is what I was going to do.

After everything, I decided to stay closer to home and look at schools on the West Coast (Pac-12) including Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington. I choose to do this because it means I can get home within half a day instead of a whole day of travel. If I need to be home I will now be able to be home faster.

What lies ahead in future, I don’t know as of yet but I will be making a decision sooner than later, hopefully in the next two weeks.

I do not regret the decision that I made simply for the reason that family comes first, but I do wish the coaches and players at Oklahoma State the best of luck in all they do. There will always be a part of me rooting for the Cowgirls!

It is now time to start building towards a new future and live the life that was put in front of me. I am taking it one day at a time and, quite honestly, that is all one person can do. I am blessed for the opportunities that have been provided to me and I can’t wait to start a new chapter of my life.