Lake Zurich’s Orchard makes the cut

The decision never fazed Amanda Orchard, who probably never even gulped, flinched and tried to snare one last deep breath.

So she did it.

She sliced open that sheep’s heart. Dissected the thing. Studied it.

“I just really like science,” she says. “I’ll be the first one at my lab table dissecting something.”

Like a sheep’s heart.

“It was fun,” Orchard says.

Recently, Orchard, a Lake Zurich junior who played three varsity sports her first two years in high school, contemplated a different kind of decision. Not a fun one. The kind of decision that makes you take a deep breath. Flinch. Gulp.

She made a cut.

Softball.

A few weeks back, the 5-foot-11 Orchard followed her heart and verbally committed to pound Division I volleyballs for the University of Pittsburgh, which happens to have lots of lab tables where bright kids can practice their scalpel skills.

“It’s one of the best medical schools there is,” says Orchard, who’s intrigued by ERs and cancer research. Her grandmother, with whom she was close, succumbed to ovarian cancer.

Cutting softball?

The decision pained Orchard. It was similar to the ache she felt when she decided not to play basketball this past winter. She would have started again, and her length and athleticism would have made her a tough body for Bears’ opponents to defend.

Orchard plays club volleyball for Sky High. Her ceiling in this sport is sky-high.

“This year is a big year for volleyball,” says Orchard, who wasn’t the first volleyball player stuck with the dilemma of choosing club ball over winter and spring high school sports. “We have like three weekends in a row where we’re traveling, and I didn’t think it would be fair to the softball team. It was a really hard decision for me — for both sports because I miss basketball and I miss softball a lot.”

Orchard had a bustout season on the softball field last spring, hitting .384 with 6 triples. She patrolled either shortstop or second base, was clutch at the plate and on the bases, and played like a veteran.

This spring figured to be even better.

She wanted to swing the bat again, field hard hoppers and sprint from first to third on singles. That stuff energizes her as much as anatomy and biology classes.

“I literally thought about (going out for softball) until a couple of days before tryouts,” Orchard says. “I kept going back and forth.”

Finally, she asked softball coach Michaela Towne to talk and delivered the news.

Towne also happens to be Orchard’s Spanish teacher.

“I love playing for her and loved having her as my coach,” Orchard says. “It was difficult to talk to her about it. But she understood really well.”

“It’s sad,” Towne says, “because the kid wants to do everything and please everyone. And, it’s sad for me, because we will sure miss her bat and leadership.”

In the end, Mark and Nancy Orchard’s oldest of two children made a mature decision. Those aren’t always easy to make.

She chose volleyball, a sport she’s been a natural at since trying out for the Lake Zurich Middle School North team as a sixth-grader.

“I feel like I have to work on my volleyball,” says Orchard, an outside hitter who amassed more than 300 kills, including 18 in one match, for Lake Zurich last fall. “I need to be the best I can be.”

By this time next year, Orchard will have signed her national letter of intent. Her softball teammates and head coach will surely welcome her back.

And playing softball again is something she’s already considering.

“I’m hoping,” says Orchard, who, understandably, can’t make any promises. “I just need to figure it out. I really want to play. It just depends on what my (volleyball) schedule is and what my club coaches say.”

Says here she’ll make her decision with confidence.