Colts Neck’s D.J. Slugh was in softball purgatory. Not only had she torn her ACL last winter, losing her junior season at Colts Neck, she thought she had lost much more.
Four days before suffering her seasonending injury at an indoor showcase, she had made a verbal commitment to Hofstra University, Long Island, N.Y.
You don’t always expect institutions to do the right thing, and Slugh was certain that her dream of playing for the Flying Dutchmen was at best put on hold; at worst, over.
But that wasn’t the case. After she told the coaches about the injury, she was informed that the college would honor her verbal commitment and hold her athletic scholarship.
“That was very classy,” she remarked. “They were so good about it [the injury]. The coaches were very supportive.”
Now, all she had to do was go through the painful rehab and get ready for the 2009 season. It wasn’t all that easy.
“It was really hard in the beginning,” she recalled. “I was concerned I wouldn’t be back to normal.
“I had to get over it,” she added. Rehab helped her return physically. What remained were the mental scars and the question of whether she could trust her knee to hold while she was swinging? Would she be able to retain her power? With each session in the batting cage, her confidence was restored and those questions were answered. She pronounced herself fit and ready to go come March.
“I’m very excited to get to play again,” she said. “I’m pretty much back to normal and I’m back to training.
“The injury doesn’t affect anything,” she added. “I’m starting to feel like myself.”
Hofstra, it turns out, didn’t really have to recruit Slugh.
“I went to a [hitting] clinic that Hofstra was running and I fell in love with the coaches,” she said. “All I wanted to do was to go there. I kept e-mailing them.”
Her persistence as well as her considerable talent would be rewarded because Hofstra indeed would come calling and she recently signed her national letter of intent.
Slugh first started playing softball at age 7 in Little League. She moved on to a Manalapan Recreation travel team and eventually to the Central Jersey Tornadoes.
Like so many youngsters, she tried other sports, but there was something about softball.
“I love the sport,” she remarked, especially hitting.