SOFTBALL 2005: Sabin the Best for Last

A lot of people would have given up by now.

Most pitchers, facing an injury that not only sidelined them for an entire season but also placed their long-term future on the mound in jeopardy, would have chosen to call it quits, tempted by the lure of other activities that wouldn’t require an extensive period of rehab.

That was the predicament facing senior Beth Sabin after she suffered a ruptured disc at the beginning of her sophomore season that left her medically unfit to pitch. And while Sabin did explore other pursuits when she sat out her junior year, one thing became clear as she fought to return to the diamond: nothing can keep Beth Sabin from softball.

“It was actually warming up for our first Ivy League game,” Sabin said, recalling the injury that derailed her softball career. “I practiced with the team through the fall [of junior year], but wasn’t ready to play fully...we realized that I wasn’t going to be able to really play much in the spring because I wasn’t able to do everything, so I took the spring off.”

“I think it was hard for her, especially as someone who’s so passionate about the sport,” said senior first baseman Cecily Gordon. “It’s hard to sit on the sidelines when you want to be out there playing and you want to be a more active part of the team.”

Essentially forced to make the decision to take her junior season off, Sabin was presented with the first major downtime of her lengthy softball career.

“I’ve been playing softball since I was five, so this was definitely the longest time I’ve not played,” Sabin said.

Left to participate in other ventures, Sabin compiled an impressive resume during her time off, which included working in ad sales for The Harvard Independent, Harvard Student Agencies, and Let’s Go. And while she always planned to rejoin the team, Sabin learned to appreciate her time away from the game and the new opportunities available to her.

“It was interesting, because that was the first real spring break that I’d had—we’d always flown and been gone somewhere for about ten days,” Sabin said. “[Junior year] I actually had a spring break and went to Tennessee with Habitat for Humanity.”

Having kept in touch with her teammates the entire time, and with softball always in the back of her mind, Sabin was determined to return for her senior year. Any thoughts of a comeback, however, always returned to one glaring, apparently insurmountable obstacle: Sabin was a pitcher who was not medically cleared to pitch.

“It was a decision the doctor made,” Sabin said. “After herniating a disc, I can’t do that much in practice anymore. If I put lots of stress on my back, it hurts.”

Sabin’s versatility would prove to be her salvation. With the rubber off-limits, she was forced to alter her comeback plans, ultimately working her way back onto the team’s roster—as an outfielder.

“It’s something that I remembered from before,” Sabin said. “I was recruited as a utility player [at Harvard]. At all the different schools I was recruited at, I was recruited for a different position, so in that way it’s not something that I haven’t done before, it just wasn’t my focus before I got here.”

“She came back to me and said she could really commit to the team,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “That’s when I talked to her about not being a pitcher and working on her hitting instead.”

“She’s willing to do whatever it takes to play,” Gordon said. “I think everyone knows that she works extremely hard and will do whatever it takes to get it done.”

Sabin’s hard work has paid off, as the same strength she relied upon to recover from her injury has helped her become the Crimson’s second-leading hitter with a batting average of .308.

“Beth is a very strong person.” Allard said. “She’s physically very strong. She can hit the ball out. She has one of the strongest arms in the outfield.”

Having finally become the type of power threat she used to battle against as a pitcher, Sabin returned to the team while wrapping up her year-long stints with HSA and The Independent.

Sabin’s long road back from injury concluded in March, when she finally received medical clearance to pitch again. Having come to understand her true value to the team as a position player, however, Sabin no longer sees pitching in her immediate future. After working tirelessly to find a way back to the mound, she’s content to leave the pitching to others if she can better serve her team as an outfielder.

“I want to do what’s best for the team and I want an Ivy championship, and whatever that means my role is going is be, that’s what I want to do,” Sabin said. “I like pitching. If that means I get to do it, then great. But if not, I want to do what’ll get us in the best position. This is my last year, and I want to do whatever I can to help us get to our goals.”