After wicked injury, DePaul’s ace pitcher back on top
When you’re the ace pitcher of a college softball team that is one of the best in the country and has won 16 games in a row, you want to shout it from the rooftops.
Heck, if you’re DePaul senior Lindsey Dean, you probably feel like shouting everything.
A year ago, Dean’s mouth was wired shut. Talking intelligibly was a challenge. And eating was downright impossible. Dean drank her food.
Unfortunately, Dean was in the wrong place at the wrong time during practice in May 2010. She was along the third baseline, waiting to pitch some batting practice.
Suddenly, a ball was rocketed her way. One of her teammates pulled a pitch before Dean could turn away, it slammed the side of her face.
“I fell to the ground,” Dean said. “I was in total shock.”
Blood was everywhere. Dean’s gum split open and her jaw shattered in two places.
But Dean was determined not to let this horrible experience shatter her dreams of making one last run with her Blue Demons at the College World Series.
When Dean was a high school senior in California, DePaul advanced to the World Series, giving her hope for a similar run some day. In recent years, the Blue Demons have been ranked among the best teams in the country and have always qualified for the NCAA tournament. But they’ve never gone to the series under Dean’s watch.
That was Dean’s motivation to heal as she drank nothing but protein shakes and cream of chicken soup that had to be thinned in a blender. Her recovery was difficult, painful and inconvenient.
“But there was still no question I was going to come back,” said Dean, who now has a titanium plate inserted into her face. “I mean, it’s my senior year. You definitely have that sense of urgency.
“I also knew we had a lot of good players coming back and a lot of good freshmen coming in. You figured we had the chance to be really good. I didn’t want to miss anything.”
She’s had a front-row seat for the Blue Demons’ 36-11 campaign, which has put them atop the Big East standings.
The right-hander, known for her wicked changeup, is 5-0 during DePaul’s 16-game winning streak, which ranks as the program’s longest streak since the 2007 team won 20 games in a row en route to a World Series appearance.
Dean, who is 9-4 on the season, led DePaul to a payback win over Illinois on Thursday, giving up just 3 hits, no walks and collecting 4 strikeouts.
Last week she was up for Big East Pitcher of the Week honors after going 2-0 with a save and a 0.57 ERA. Opponents hit just .100 against her.
“Lindsey is so awesome,” said DePaul junior third baseman Lynsey Ciezki, who starred at Lake Park High School. “Her changeup is the best pitch I’ve ever seen. It throws batters off so much.
“I’m just glad she’s back. When she got hit last year, it was horrible. I almost started crying when I saw her. It was bad. But she’s a bulldog. She’s just so tough and she worked hard to get back.”
After the accident, Dean wasn’t allowed to do any physical activity for nearly two months, so she fell out of shape. And she couldn’t eat solids for more than three weeks, so she dropped more than 20 pounds.
“I lost all my muscle,” Dean said. “My cardio was so bad. I was really in a bad spot and it was a long process to get back to where I was. I was worried and nervous I’d never get there.”
Oddly, Dean is never worried about getting hit again, even though she’s in the line of fire with every pitch.
“Luckily, I didn’t get hit while I was pitching, or else maybe I would have a mental block about it,” Dean said. “When I’m pitching, I can control more where the ball goes, so I feel good about that.”
Dean also feels good about the way she has negotiated such a difficult road.
“I am kind of proud of myself that I was able to come back,” Dean said. “And I’m proud of our team. I’m just glad I’m getting to be part of such a successful year.”
pbabcock@dailyherald.com