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Fisherback
gearing up for junior season
Former Wave stays dedicated
By George Starks
GREENVILLE- On Monday, former Greenville softball standout, Jordyn
Fisherback, turned 21 years of age.
She was legal to do what she pleased but instead of being out partying
with her friends, Fisherback chose another route.
There was no celebration as Fisherback spent her 21st birthday at The
Academy.
With the first full day of practice coming up at Middle Tennessee State
on January 15th, Fisherback’s full focus was not on the fact that she
was 21 but it was on the Lady Blue Raiders opening day in Georgia in
February.
According to Fisherback, it’s all about being dedicated and staying
focused
“We were in there Monday night, my dad (Dave) and I, and there were
several younger kids in there as well,” said Fisherback. “My dad was in
there working with me and he is my inspiration. He’s been working with
me since I was little. I think it’s because of him that I am able to
stay focused and be dedicated to the game and the school I play for.
That is our bonding time.”
With many little kids on hand to watch Fisherback work, the collage
junior learned something.
“I was the only older girl in there and I never realized until Monday
just how much the younger girls look up to the older kids,” said
Fisherback. “I never realized how much the older kids influenced them.
A teammate and I coach a group of kids in Tennessee and they’re what
keeps me going. I hate getting up at 4:30/4:45 to go to workout but
then I think of those 10 or 11 little girls we coach and how they look
up to us and I can’t give up. They are what keeps me going.”
When it comes to the dedication, Fisherback said she had it in high
school.
“I pitched almost every day at The Academy but I now that I look at it,
I would much rather be at The Academy working out than to be out doing
other things,” Fisherback pointed out. “I would rather be bettering my
game and to keep working at it. When you go home, you know you’ve done
what was needed. There’s no one here to push me so I have to push
myself. So on my birthday, I think I would rather be doing the workout
than to be doing other things. So being home on Christmas break meant
more than going out to basketball games and running around with my
friends.”
Fisherback will head back to MTSU on Monday. Practice will start on
Tuesday and February 15th will be the opening game. On that date MTSU
will be in Georgia to take on the Bulldogs twice, and Northwestern
University.
A Big 10 and an SEC school. Another reason to get prepared and get
focused.
“It’s huge for me to be playing against this kind of competition,” said
Fisherback. “I’ve been working on my spins because without the spins,
you don’t get the movement on the ball the way you want. A lot of the
preparation is mental and because of the workouts, I think I’m mentally
prepared.”
As a freshman, Fisherback suffered a stress fracture in her arm that
sidelined her for some of the season. In her sophomore year, she was
reduced to a mere 12 appearances, including eight starts.
Now, the arm is healed and Fisherback is ready to go. She has been told
by her coach she will be the ace pitcher on the team
With over 50 scheduled, Fisherback knows the ball will be in her hand
more often than not, 35-40 games.
“This is where all my hard work has paid off, being named the number
one pitcher,” said Fisherback. “This is like a reward to me. I’ve been
told I will toe the rubber about 35 times or more this season. I stayed
down there last summer and rehabbed the arm.”
After the opening weekend in Georgia, the Blue Raiders will hit the
road to Oxford, Mississippi for five days, then on to Auburn, Alabama
for five days before returning home to Murfreesboro. All together, the
Blue Raiders will play 15 games from February 15 through March 3rd.
If that’s not enough, the team will play three games at home with a
double header on March 5 with Troy, then a single game on the following
day with Troy.
After that, they will head to Myrtle Beach for five games.
In all this traveling, the team still has to keep up with academics.
“I give all the credit to Jerrod Newland for the way he ran his
program. It was like going from a small collage to a big collage. So
adjusting to the way things are with academics was easier because of
Newland,” said Fisherback. ”So we will play a lot of good
competition on the road before Sun Belt Conference play starts but
doing the school work has become second nature because of Jerrod
Newland. He pushed me and made me the best I could be and if it weren’t
for him, I wouldn’t be where I’m at now.”
Fisherback said next season, MTSU will be playing in Conference USA.
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