Suzy Brookshire made a verbal commitment to play softball for Sacramento State University in November of her sophomore year. Two years later, the San Benito High senior made things official after signing her letter of intent on the first day of the 2015 fall early signing period.
“For the longest time, I never thought I would be good enough or lucky enough to get this far,” said Brookshire, who was surrounded by family, friends and coaches as she signed her letter of intent at Blackjacks on Nov. 11. “It’s really exciting (to have a dream come true). At the beginning of my freshman year, getting a scholarship wasn’t even on my mind.”
Things started to change the summer after Brookshire’s freshman year. That’s when the 5-foot-7 catcher/infielder started to gain attention playing for the San Jose Lady Sharks traveling team (Brookshire has since moved on to play travel ball with Central Coast Athletics).
Once Brookshire started receiving hitting lessons from former Balers coach Scott Smith, her game took off.
“Scott taught me how to hit (tough pitching), and once he brought me up to the varsity in my freshman year, that changed my future,” she said. “That’s when I started training the most and made things all about softball. I didn’t have much of a social life because it was all about softball. And being around seniors made me want to work that much harder, so I could at least hang with them and compete on the same level with them. I just knew I had to get better.”
And that’s exactly what happened. In the last two years, Brookshire has produced two of the greatest statistical offensive seasons in the Balers’ rich softball history. After putting up video-game like numbers as a sophomore, Brookshire’s junior season was even more impressive given the fact she was stricken with mononucleosis at the beginning of the season.
The bout with mono prevented Brookshire from practicing at her normal intensity for the first month of the season. But once Brookshire started to regain her strength, pitchers had an incredibly difficult time getting her out. Brookshire led the team in several categories, including batting average (.560), runs scored (37), hits (51), RBI (55), doubles (17), triples (6), home runs (9) and on-base percentage (.586).
Brookshire also had a 1.175 slugging percentage and a 1.762 OPS, two stats that tell just how dominant of a hitter she was. To put things in perspective, Babe Ruth had an OPS of 1.1636, the highest mark in Major League Baseball history. Brookshire said she had no qualms about making a verbal commitment so early, which could’ve scared off other programs from making offers.
“I didn’t want to pass up a full ride scholarship,” she said. “And I loved the campus and got along with all the coaches. I had plenty of good reasons to commit when I did.”
