Whether it’s in the circle, or at the dish, junior Mollie Beeson does a bit of everything for Pierce City.
“She hits three-hole in our lineup,” said Lady Eagles Head Coach Bobby Stackhouse. “She’s probably our top pitcher.”
It’s no surprise when you consider Mollie has been playing softball her entire life.
Yet, a closer look may reveal a surprise after all.
“Rarely does she talk about it,” said Mollie’s dad, Shawn.
Hidden beneath the green sock on Mollie’s left leg is a prosthetic where her shin would be.
“She was honestly centimeters from losing her life. It was close enough to the arteries in her leg that it could’ve been much worse,” Shawn said.
Shortly before Mollie’s third birthday, she was involved in a lawnmower accident.
“It was so damaged, they had to amputate at the ankle joint,” Shawn added.
As her family wondered how her life might change, Mollie wasted no time giving them an answer right there in the hospital room.
“She was continuously up and down the hallways, all over the room,” Shawn said. “She’s really never stopped. It’s never held her back from anything.”
It’s never stopped her from hitting home runs or inspiring teammates and friends.
“I take it as I’m a leader to them,” Mollie said. “No matter if they have a prosthetic or not, I’m just someone they look up to which is great.”
She’s even become a role model for those who know her best.
“She’s an inspiration to me,” Shawn said. “I don’t tell her that very often because we both get teary-eyed.”
But Mollie is just doing what she always wanted to.
“I act like my prosthetic is not even there,” she said.
That may be true, but there was one line drive a few years ago when Mollie was probably glad to have her special piece of equipment.
“That [line drive] hit her right square in the shin of the prosthetic leg and it sounded like a shotgun going off,” Shawn said.
“It made like a bone-cracking sound and everyone was like ‘oh my gosh.’ I just picked it up like normal, threw it to first base and got her out,” Mollie said. “It made everyone laugh which made me smile.”
That moment may have been a metaphor for how Mollie lives her life, by never letting one incident in the past determine the steps toward her future.
“She’s determined,” Shawn said. “When she sets her mind to something, she gets it done.”
With Mollie’s help, Pierce City is off to its best start in four years.
