Dual Threat
FREEPORT — Tori Radvan jumped into the air to hit a volleyball like she had a thousand times before.
This occasion, however, was different.
When she landed, she felt a pop in her left knee. Shocked, she didn't know what it meant.
Deep down, though, the junior multi-sport athlete at Freeport High School knew.
She had torn her anterior cruciate ligament – on her birthday of all days on that late summer evening of Aug. 31 of last year – and two seasons were lost.
Volleyball and basketball.
“It was a lot to handle,” Radvan said.
Radvan was a key member of Freeport's 2017 PIAA Class AA championship volleyball team and excelled in the state title match. She was poised to have another strong season when the ACL tore. She was also expected to be a key cog this winter for the Yellowjackets' basketball team as a guard.
Those plans were laid wasted by the injury.
But Radvan wasn't about to let it wipe out an entire year, even though she didn't undergo the surgery to repair the ACL until October.
She rehabilitated the knee relentlessly with the hopes of returning for the softball season this spring. Through the pain and tears and worry, she persisted.
“There were days when my knee hurt really bad that I thought this is no use,” Radvan said. “This doesn't matter anyway. Why am I doing this?”
Her desire to play softball again — her favorite and best sport — drove her.
She was cleared to return to the field again on the day of the first practice this spring for Freeport.
As each day passes, her trepidation about the knee fades just a little bit more. Radvan is back to being the impact player as both a pitcher and a hitter that makes her one of the best players in the WPIAL and the state.
She's 8-1 in the circle this season with a 2.14 ERA. At the plate, she is batting a team-leading .639 with five home runs, seven doubles and 24 RBI for the 10-2 Yellowjackets.
No one is more surprised she has put up such gaudy numbers than Radvan.
“I didn't know what to expect,” Radvan said. “I feel back to normal and definitely feel stronger.”
Her first game back was against rival Burrell and Radvan said she definitely felt the nerves — and large jolt of adrenalin.
“It was very stressful, for one because it was against Burrell and, well, it's Burrell and we're rivals,” Radvan said. “It was the first time I was allowed to run the bases. I slid for the first time in eight months. It was very memorable.”
She struck out seven and scattered four hits in 6 1/3 innings to get the win that day. She also drove in two runs at the plate in the 7-4 victory over Burrell.
Radvan is no stranger to pressure situations. She started for the Yellowjackets when she was a freshman and batted .551. Last year, she hit .442 and also saw action in the circle.
This season, she has taken her pitching to another level, especially her ability to get swings and misses.
Radvan has struck out 64 batters in 49 innings this season.
“There are games I finish that I don't realize I've even struck out that many,” Radvan said. “I didn't really do anything different.”
Radvan, though, has an interesting theory on why she has returned to the softball field so strong this season after a lengthy layoff.
She said she believes the time away from the volleyball and basketball courts during her recovery gave her body a rest from the pounding it took playing three sports competitively and at a high level year after year.
And then there is the matter of just being a year older and more mature.
“I feel more confident,” Radvan said. “I'm a junior now and I feel more comfortable.”
Freeport softball coach Sam Ross has seen Radvan's development first hand over the years. He's also seen her mature over the course of the last seven weeks.
“I think she was a little tentative on what she could or couldn't do when she came back,” Ross said. “She's trusting in what she can do now.”
With Radvan and senior Ally DeJidas hitting in the middle of a potent Freeport lineup —the Yellowjackets have scored 107 runs in 12 games this season — teams have to pick their poison.
For now, they have been picking Radvan. But, maybe not for long.
“She follows Ally,” Ross said. “With the two of them back-to-back, it's a nightmare for the teams we face. Teams have been walking Ally to face Tori. I'm expecting them to walk both of them one of these days.
“Tori has just come back really good,” Ross added. “I'm really happy for her. She's come back as good as she was.”
