Senior Duo Counts Their Victories in a Loss

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Oct 19

1:00 PM

Softball

vs Northern Colorado

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The nature of competition is to keep a running tab and declare a victor at the end of the contest.

Competitors track their own scoreboard, and the victories they count don't always match a final score at the end of the day. Saturday at Ram Field, Colorado State's softball team was on the wrong end of a 12-0 decision to Boise State as the Broncos completed a three-game sweep of the Rams on the final weekend of the Mountain West regular season.

The Broncos (40-10, 19-5 MW) ended the game in the fifth inning with a strong mix of pitching (allowing just two hits to the Rams) and taking advantage of some CSU (18-28, 9-15) miscues, adding more potency to some powerful swings with a pair of fourth-inning home runs as part of a nine-hit day.

Before the game started, Colorado State honored three departing seniors, and for two of them, being on the field was a major victory. While Ashley Michelena has been a mainstay in the CSU lineup for five seasons, both Taylor Gilmore and Brooke Polenz were almost looking at the end of their final season before they'd really begun.

For Gilmore, it was ligament damage and a broken bone in her ankle stemming from a car accident. Polenz broke her hip in a horse-riding mishap, with neither one of them able to contribute to the season until it was nearly done.

Simply walking to the circle for the start was virtually a victory lap for Gilmore.

"At the beginning of spring when we had to pick out our walk-up songs, Peyton Allen texted me what I wanted mine to be for pitching, and I was like, my career is over, I'm not going to pick one," Gilmore said. "So, she said, hey, how about you pick 'Look How Far We've Come' because I know you're going to step on the field again.

"To walk out there and hear that song gave me chills. She knew something I didn't, and this team pushed me so much farther than I ever thought I could be pushed."

It was her second start of the season, the prior one coming last weekend, and that was cause for celebration for her. Same for Polenz, who lined up behind her at shortstop, her first start in the field this season. She'd had a couple of pinch-running appearances, but she was finally on the field and in the starting lineup.

"It was an honor. It's been an honor getting this opportunity," Polenz said. "This last game, to just enjoy it with my teammates was just amazing. I couldn't have asked for anything better. I'll remember the day, the people, playing relaxed and having fun.

"It took dedication. The biggest thing was I kept telling myself God has a plan, and if it's supposed to be, then I'll be out there. Just working toward that and getting the opportunity means the world. It was an awesome opportunity just to get back out there one last time with the team."

Head coach Jen Fisher was more that happy to give them this final day after they'd put in the work to get back. As she noted, not every contribution to a season comes via a batting or earned run average.

They may have been injured, but they were always there for the team, contributing in any way they could.

"That was great. That's definitely a win in that category," Fisher said. "That's the thing. Taylor's a leader off the field. Everything she's done for our team behind the scenes, you can't imagine all the ways she's advanced our program forward. Brooke is just this positive person who has the best work ethic of anybody I've seen. Tarp duty, shoveling snow … She's going to be just fine. She's such a strong person, with a strong zest for life. For her to get back out there was really special. Their teammates wanted that for them."

So, the ending they will take away from the day are the collection of hugs and tears collected after the team huddled postgame one more time in left field. They said goodbyes as teammates, but not as friends.

Leaving the field wasn't something they really wanted to do either. Not when it took them both so long to get back.

"When I first went to the doctor and was told I had to get surgery, they told me my career was over," Gilmore said. "Being able to step on the field again and play the sport I've loved my whole entire life means more than I can ever imagine. The fact I was able to do it with this team specifically and for these coaches, that puts the sprinkles on top of the perfect sundae of softball."

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