From the time she picked up a softball, Tashia Daley aspired to be a Division I pitcher.
Even coming from the small Hancock County town of Sullivan, the Ellsworth High School senior’s mission has always been to play big-time softball.
She’ll get to realize her dream next fall, as Daley recently signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Niagara (N.Y.) University next fall.
“I am wicked excited, [Thursday] I got my letter of acceptance for going to Niagara, so I was really happy,” said Daley, who plans to major in business.
A year ago at this time, Daley’s dream seemed to be out of reach.
In January 2009, while playing basketball for Sumner High — she transferred from there to Ellsworth for her senior year — Daley suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, and for the first couple months after that, her chances of pitching her junior season seemed remote.
“After my ACL, I remember I couldn’t stop crying, I just thought softball was over,” Daley recalled.
But she quickly realized what got her to this point: Hard work, drive and determination.
“She’s probably the hardest working kid I’ve ever had,” said Ellsworth coach Rick Roberts, who also runs a pitching clinic for local players in town and has been working with Daley since she was in eighth grade. “She just has a lot of strong desire.”
That was evident when Daley returned to pitching halfway through her junior season and led Sumner into the Eastern Maine Class C championship game, where it fell to Calais.
Daley hasn’t had a chance to visit the upstate New York school as of yet, but has been communicating with head coach Al Dirschberger via e-mail.
“I’m going out there soon just when I can fit it in my schedule,” she said.
Daley found out she was being offered an athletic scholarship after returning home following a scrimmage against George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill, and the rest is history.
“I almost fainted I was so excited,” she said, “I couldn’t stop smiling. I gave coach Rick a big hug, and words couldn’t describe how happy I was. Finally, my dream has come true.”
Daley, her coaches and family held the NLI signing at The Galley, a restaurant her aunt and uncle own in Sullivan.
Daley said her knee is feeling stronger than ever, and her velocity has improved vastly.
“I can move better, I’m allowed to cover home plate now,” she said. “I’m actually pitching faster now than I did when I tore my ACL. To be honest, I forgot about it. The only thing that reminds me about it is my scar.”
Like a lot of the top pitchers throughout the state like Mattanawcook’s Tayla Trask and Bangor’s Sam Bedore, Daley is a regular at Frozen Ropes in Portland, and plays there every other weekend.
Last summer, she and Ellsworth teammate Ashley Smith played for the Southern Maine Heat, which made the transition to playing for the Eagles a real easy one.
“Ashley Smith and I took pitching lessons together, and we just knew each other,” Daley said. “I can get along with pretty much anyone.”
Daley is an example that Maine kids from small towns can earn the accolades if they are willing to put in the work.
“That’s what I’d like to get across, too,” she said.
Now that she has accepted her scholarship, Daley can focus on helping Ellsworth make a postseason run in Eastern Maine Class B.
“Honestly, when I found out I said, I can finally enjoy my senior year, the stress is gone,” she said.
Daley also knew she wanted to leave Maine to play at the next level, and remaining relatively close to her family on the East Coast will help, too.
“Personally, I know I can go out of state and do something. I’ve felt like I’ve worked so hard,” she said. “I wanted to go away with that feeling of accomplishment. I didn’t want to settle for anything less.”
