No regrets? Check. Just have fun? Always. Go out with a bang? Working on it.
Every time Taylor Petty steps into the circle for the Long Beach State softball team, these are the things she works to accomplish before her senior season concludes.
Petty, a communications major who plans to become a dental hygienist after she graduates is an ace pitcher for the 49ers who boasts a team-best 1.20 ERA.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Petty this past year though, as the senior has certainly had her setbacks – the first coming in spring of last year, when she tore the labrum in her hip.
“It was definitely really frustrating at first because I love the game,” Petty said. “I was just pitching with it being hurt and I ended up becoming more of a reliever.”
LBSU head coach Kim Sowder moved Petty to the bullpen and used her primarily as a closer for the remainder of the 2011 season.
In spite her injury, Petty finished with a 2.34 ERA and earned an honorable mention on the All-Big West Conference team. She also set the single-season school record for saves with five.
“We would have loved to have used her more, but we were happy that we could use her as much as we did,” Sowder said. “She’s a competitor and you know she’s going to give you everything she has, no question about it.”
Petty had surgery on her hip in the offseason and used summer and fall to go through the rehab process.
“It was a long rehab and I really took my time and was safe about it because the pitcher from last year, Brooke Turner, had the same surgery,” Petty said. “She told me ‘take your time, don’t rush back into it’ and I came back really strong.”
As the 49ers prepared for the 2012 season, they were in the best shape they had been in years. Nearly the entire 2011 team was back and Petty was finally healthy, while the Big West preseason poll had the ‘Niners favored to finish alongside Pacific atop the conference standings.
The optimism in the coaches’ offices was infectious, but then they were hit with a stroke of bad luck.
“The day before we were supposed to leave for our first tournament, I came down with a fever and found out I had pneumonia,” Petty said.
The pneumonia and its aftermath sidelined her for the first half of the season and she had to watch as her teammates stumbled out to an 8-17 start, which included a six-game losing streak.
“It definitely was a situation that nobody could do anything about and of course it’s frustrating when you have a player that’s that good that you can’t have,” Sowder said. “It definitely takes its mental toll.”
Petty was able to participate in her first practice of the season just before the start of Big West play. She returned the field on March 31 in an away game against UC Santa Barbara and wasted no time getting back into form.
Two hits, 8 strikeouts and 7 shutout innings later, Petty won her first game of the season.
Her impact on the team was both substantial and immediate.
“She’s definitely an impact player for sure and a huge part of the team, so any time you gain somebody like that, it’s going to give your team a lift,” Sowder said. “And that little lift is what we needed.”
Since Petty’s return, the ‘Niners are 11-4 and have earned a tie for first place in the Big West. The pitching staff hasn’t allowed more than four runs in a game since the opening weekend at Santa Barbara and has held its opponents to one run or less nine times.
Strong pitching is what got the 49ers within one game of a conference championship last year, and it’s what has them in the hunt again this year.
“I just want to go out, have fun, go out with a bang and not regret anything,” Petty said.
All of that could be accomplished with a Big West title.