Article Quoted from The Charleston Gazette
By Mike Whiteford
All of those after-school softball workouts with her father and the weekend weightlifting sessions in the gym suddenly seemed irrelevant.
On June 2, 2006, Herbert Hoover pitcher Leanne Murphy suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament — one of the most dreaded of knee injuries — and it disrupted a softball obsession that began at age 9.
Because of the injury, Murphy spent the next five months in rehabilitation and thus was unable to pursue her summer softball passion.
Like any athlete unable to perform, she bristled at the inactivity, especially as she sat in the stands and watched.
“It was horrible. I couldn’t do anything. It was bad,’’ Murphy said Thursday afternoon at Buffalo High School’s softball complex. “Just sitting there and watching was horrible.’’
If nothing else, the injury served as a reminder that softball held a high priority in her life.
“It’s all I’ve ever done,’’ she said, “and I just love it.’’
Helped by intense rehabilitation work and the recuperative powers of youth, Murphy was able to do a bit of running by September and returned to full health for her senior season with Huskies.
She made the most of her recovery, batting .492 as a pitcher/third baseman and compiling a 12-6 record and an 0.74 earned run average to earn first-team Class AA all-state honors. In addition, she earned a full scholarship to West Virginia State, making the hard work worthwhile.
In the first of three five-inning North-South All-Star Games Thursday, she pitched two perfect innings, combining with Lincoln County’s Heather Mills for a no-hitter and a 1-0 North victory. In the second game, the North rallied for two runs in the fifth inning for a 2-1 win, and the South won the third game 4-2. A crowd of about 100 attended.
Murphy, who sat out the second game but played shortstop in the third, still wears a knee brace as a precaution and does weight training to strengthen and support the muscles around the knee, giving it more stability.
At State beginning this fall, she expects to pitch and study physical and health education with plans to teach and coach.
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