Merrimack's Kolby Davenport will head to Assumption College in the fall to continue her softball career.
Kolby Davenport was set to start the most important stretch of her softball career when disaster struck.
Not long after the end of her junior year at Merrimack High School, Davenport was playing in a softball tournament for her travel team, the Worth Firecracker Red Hots.
A catcher for both the Red Hots and the Tomahawks, Davenport was run into during a play at the plate and cracked her collar bone. At first, she was told that after three weeks, she’d be OK to play again, but that wasn’t the case.
“In three weeks I started throwing again, and it snapped in half down ward,” Davenport said. “It all fell into my chest. I had to have a metal rod placed through the middle of it, and I couldn’t lift my arm over my head or lift over a pound for six months. I have two nasty scars from it.”
So instead of being on the softball field for what was possibly the most important stretch of her high school career – the summer before senior year – Davenport was on the sideline.
“I was 9 when I started playing (travel) tournaments,” she said. “I’d been working so hard, working for this season for so long. That’s usually when you go to showcase yourself to colleges.”
But during her time off the field, Davenport learned a few things that she’d never picked up while on it. The injury forced her to take a step back and witness the game through a different perspective.
“I learned the game a lot better the technical way because I was on the bench,” she said. “I got to watch from afar. I learned how to be more morally supportive than supportive on the field. I talked to the coaches a lot. I’d do the book sometimes.
“I learned a lot. I saw a different aspect of the game. As a catcher and as a (field hockey) goalie, I was almost always a leader. I was kind of expected for that. Then I had to do it in a different way because I wasn’t on the field.”
Not only did Davenport miss out on the summer softball season, she was also unable to participate in field hockey in her final year of high school.
After being named first-team all-state as a junior goalie, she stuck with the team and was named a captain despite not being able to set foot on the field. What made it even tougher was that the Tomahawks had their best season, making the Class L playoffs and winning a tournament game for the first time.
“It was insane,” Davenport said of watching. “I had to not do anything when I was supposed to not do anything. I had to not break the rules and be smart with it. Once I got the OK to go, I had do (physical therapy) three times a week and every single day I would throw because I had no muscle in my arm left.
“I got the rod taken out of my shoulder. I threw all the time. I hit any time I could get my hands on a machine. I did pretty much anything I could to get back. I did everything I could just to get back because I knew that I was going to college to play softball.”
Before the injury, Davenport had considered going to Keene State to play both field hockey and softball. Although she didn’t pick up field hockey until the eighth grade, both were sports she didn’t want to give up past the high school level.
Finally, Davenport decided on softball, and instead of going to Keene State, she’ll head to Assumption College in Worcester in the fall.
“I’m a strong believer that things always happen for a reason,” she said. “I’m happy with my decision for where I’m going to college. I know that’s where I’m supposed to be and I’m really excited. I’m not happy (the injury) happened, but it was almost like it was meant to happen.”