Ellie Shevey cannot get enough of softball, even when that means playing through the pain.
“It was shooting down my left side of my leg,” said the Kickapoo senior. “My feet were numb, my back, I couldn’t bend over. It was really tight. A lot of nerve damage happened.”
Even teammates and coaches would never know that starting Ellie’s sophomore year, she was dealing with a herniated disc pressing on her sciatic nerve.
“You’ll never question her toughness because she is as tough as they come,” said Kickapoo Head Softball Coach Jason Howser.
In February, she underwent back surgery. The big question was – would the Kickapoo Lady Chief play for her senior season and beyond? But she bounced back just like her attitude.
“I think she always sees the glass half full,” Howser said. “And then natural personality just comes out when she is on the field or in the dugout.”
She lifts up her spirit and lifts the ball over the fence. She says she is always calm in the batter’s box.
“I know that whatever I do, my team will have my back,” Ellie said. “So, I think that gives me the ability to just relax in those moments.”
Her energy carries over to her work behind the plate, with her intelligence shining as well.
“This is the first time we’ve allowed the catcher to call the game,” Howser said.
“I started doing it last year, and it was definitely a learning curve,” Ellie said. “Like I had to take in a lot of things, a lot of things going through my head.”
Ellie and senior pitcher Callie Kilgo are often right on the same page.
“I’ll call something and she’ll be like, yeah, that’s it and you could see her smile in the circle,” Ellie said. “I’m like, all right, I picked a good one for sure.”
Ellie will always credit her teammates for making her job look easy, but it’s her teammates who are better every day because of her.
“She is always ready to step up, and her leadership is just something that I cannot describe,” said Kickapoo senior shortstop Katie Vaughan.
“I might not be on my best game, but I know when Ellie is on her best game, it just makes me feel so much better because she’ll have my back and be there for me,” Callie said.
