Shannon Orton keeps on pitching

The Herald News reports:

Her anterior cruciate ligament was torn, but Shannon Orton wasn't.

Faced with the choice of having surgery immediately and missing her senior softball season or postponing the operation and spending most of her summer laid up in recovery, the decision was a no-brainer for the Case High School pitcher.

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"I didn't want to miss my senior year of softball," said Orton, who tore the ACL in her right knee during a basketball game at Bishop Stang on Dec. 27. "After the MRI, I was told I could have surgery now and have a 4-6 month recovery period, which would put me in July, or I could get a brace and hold the knee together and postpone the surgery until after the softball season."

Orton's decision was easy. Her surgery is set for July 5.

"My doctor understood my situation," Orton said. "He told me I couldn't damage it any more."

"I haven't seen anyone as driven as Shannon," said Case coach Norm Beauchemin. "She has so much passion for the game. She did a lot of rehab with (Case trainer) Russ Boardman and he said she was determined to pitch. She has had a great year for us."

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Learning to love the game again after injury

NewsOK Reports:

For as long as she can remember, softball has been a part of Megan Blevens' life.

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Blevens started playing at age 3. By 9, she was on a competitive team.

“We were traveling from state to state to state to state,” the Little Axe senior said. “Pretty much all of my time was spent playing.”

By the time her sophomore fastpitch season rolled around, Blevens could see a possible quick end in sight.

She wasn't having fun on the field, wasn't enjoying all the time she could be dedicating to other — new — things, spent on those weekend trips to play a sport she was growing tired of.

But in a basketball game in January 2010, things changed.

She was playing defense and came down funny.

“My body went one way and my leg went the other,” Blevens said.

Her anterior cruciate ligament was torn.

Her slowpitch softball season was lost.

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Whitney Cannion suffers ACL injury

The Baylor Bears reports:

Junior pitcher Whitney Canion suffered a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee during softball's 2-1 win over North Texas on Sunday.

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Canion was running out a grounder in the third inning when her left knee buckled as she planted on first base. The lefty will attempt to rehabilitate the leg in hopes of a return to the circle later this season.

"Whitney had an MRI that confirmed that the ACL was torn," said head coach Glenn Moore. "This is a heartbreaker because she is such a great representative of this team and university. She has battled injuries before, and she will face this one with the help of her teammates. We will rally around her, and the next players in line will rise to the challenge."

The 2011 All-American is Baylor's all-time leader in strikeouts (899) and holds a 68-33 record for her career. Canion is 5-1 with a 0.35 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 40.0 innings this season.

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Krista Schauder chooses Kutztown

The Mercury reports:

Krista Schauder’s senior year got off to a rather inauspicious start when the Boyertown two-sport standout suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in her right knee earlier this fall while playing for her travel softball team.

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Despite the unfortunate injury, which will keep her off the basketball court this winter, Schauder’s softball future still appears plenty promising.

Wednesday afternoon, Schauder signed a letter-of-intent to accept a partial scholarship to attend Kutztown University and play softball for the NCAA Division II power Golden Bears.

“Kutztown had the academics I want, and I liked the size of the school,” said Schauder, who plans on majoring in electronic media. “It’s just a real pretty college.” Click here to continue reading.