Three days after a 13-strikeout performance against East Tennessee State University last season, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga pitcher Taylor Long didn’t feel right.
“We were getting loose in the bullpen, and all of a sudden she’s like, ‘I can’t throw,'” UTC softball coach Frank Reed said last week while recalling the moment of concern.
At the time, Long was the best pitcher on UTC’s roster, with her record for the 2024 season to that point 11-3 with 104 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings. She had also been named the Southern Conference pitcher of the week three times and was honored as the league’s pitcher of the month for March, but suddenly all that was on the back burner.
Long was diagnosed with a nerve injury, which sidelined her for a month. When she came back, despite being a shell of herself in the pitching circle, she still helped the Mocs sweep the SoCon’s regular-season and tournament championships, with the latter earning them a berth in the NCAA Division I postseason. The offseason goal became about getting Long — who is from Calhoun, Georgia, and was a two-way standout at Sonoraville High School — back to being her previous self.
Long wasn’t sure if that person could still exist; in fact, she was perfectly OK if things didn’t turn out that way.