BRYANT – It’s not often a person who has gone through a traumatic life experience can focus on a particular sport, much less excel at it. It’s also not often that same person gets offered a Division I scholarship before she has played a varsity game in high school. But, that’s Bryant Lady Hornet senior softball star Meagan Chism’s story, as she signed a National Letter of Intent to play at the University of Memphis Friday at Bryant High School.
“I have to give Memphis props because looking at her, you don’t see a DI player,” Bryant Coach Lisa Dreher said of Chism. “I know only like 1.4 percent of players that play high school ball get to play at the DI level. They all come in and want to play, but that’s not what a DI player looks like, but she’s got some grit, I’ll tell you that. Super hard-headed, that hasn’t changed. She’s been a joy to coach and I have no doubt she’ll be successful in Memphis.”
“She’s just a well-rounded student-athlete and I know she’ll be successful, and I can’t always say that. She does everything textbook.”
Chism had a huge scare before her sophomore year at Bryant and it had nothing to do with softball, well almost nothing. Chism found out the hard way that she was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
“Sophomore year I was at an indoor practice,” Chism explained. “I didn’t have a helmet on and we were taking cuts for batting practice. Our coach was doing a drill off a tee, he went to swing, I took a step in and his bat actually struck me in the face. It was completely my fault.
“I went to the hospital and they gave me eight stitches and I had a mild concussion. When they took the CT to make sure everything was OK, they said they had found a mass. At that time I had braces, so at the time I went to take my MRI to see what it was exactly, it was blurred because of the metal, so we had to wait a couple weeks, got my braces off and had to go back.
“At this point, we’re scared to death because we had no clue. When they looked at my clear MRI, they called it a gangliglioma. They said it was 11 millimeters wide, about the size of a grape, and it was benign. It’s not spreading to other parts of my body. It has the potential to grow, but we’ve been tracking it for a couple of years and there’s no change.
“It was like God pushed me in front of that bat.”
Things did not get easier for Chism during that time of her life.
“As a sophomore, I realized a week or two before our season was going to start that we had not broken through to her,” Dreher said of Chism’s mindset. “She didn’t seem to have bought into the system at all. I told her she probably wasn’t going to play catcher unless she had a dramatic change in how she did things. She still refers to this as the worst day of her life, not because of that, but she had a wreck that day. That was also the day the doctors called and confirmed she had a brain tumor. So, it was a bad day for her.”
But, Chism persevered.
“Walking away from her after I told her that was the hardest thing I had to do as a coach, but she was not in a good place,” Dreher added. “Walked away and she came back a different person. Now, she is everything a coach could want in a catcher. She’s a leader on and off the field, she’s vocal. When I say student-athlete, this is what a student-athlete is. Her GPA is up there, AP (advanced placement) classes, she doesn’t have to worry about it.”
And despite her traumatic times, Chism has excelled on the field, earning two All-State honors her sophomore and junior seasons, and All-Conference her freshman year, helping lead the Lady Hornets to a 56-10 overall record the past two seasons, 27-1 in conference play, including two 7A Central Conference championships, not to mention two state semifinals appearances.
Last season, Chism led the Lady Hornets with a .467 average, adding four home runs and 22 RBIs. She batted .469 her sophomore season with four home runs, nine doubles, 28 runs and 29 RBIs. Chism has struck out just one time in those two years.
“Hitting is a mental game, completely,” Chism said. “You may be in a slump and it has nothing to do with your mechanics. It’s all mental, and I’ve gone through that several, several times. You just have to realize if you put in the time, you put in the effort, you work hard ever since you were 4-years-old to become the player that you’ve become. You just have to trust your work.
“I go through slumps just like everyone else. I’m not a phenomenal hitter. I would love to be better and I absolutely plan to be better. Just getting in there and having the confidence.”
Chism’s talent and hard work definitely received Memphis’ attention, as they were on her since before her freshman season. The Tigers are a part of the American Athletic Conference and went 37-21 last year.
“I’ve been committed to Memphis since the beginning of my freshman year,” she said. “Their campus is beautiful, their softball program is pretty much everything I strive to work for as an athlete. Their coaching is phenomenal, not to mention they have the degree I would like to pursue, which is optometry.
“When my coach (Natalie Poole) recruited me off the softball field, she actually watched me play third base, but she knew I was a catcher. She recruited me as a catcher, but also as a utility player. I could get there and they may need me at third base, they may need me in the outfield, they may need me as a DH. Honestly, I don’t care where they play me, I’m playing DI softball.”
And throughout it all, Chism always kept a smile on her face.
“I’ve always had energy, I’ve always had a smile on my face,” she said. “It intimidates those who don’t like you. I smile through everything. If you’re not positive, it’s not really worth it if you’re not happy and enjoying it. Just smile.”