University of Massachusets Athletics
Back On The Bases: UMass Senior Overcomes Injury
May 17, 2007 | Softball
May 17, 2007
AMHERST - After not stepping into a batter's box for a little more than three years Jackie Teman was anxious as she dug in last September at the UMass Softball Complex.
"Just hit the ball," the University of Massachusetts senior said to herself as she gripped the bat at the softball team's intrasquad scrimmage. She swung, connected and ran toward first.
When she heard her teammates clapping, Teman stopped and looked up. The ball had cleared the fence.
"I didn't think it was going out so I started running, but I looked up and everyone was cheering," she said Tuesday, smiling at the memory. "I couldn't have asked for a better first day back."
Getting any days back seemed unlikely a year ago when the once promising middle infielder's playing career seemed over. Lingering effects of two concussions she suffered between her senior year of high school and freshman year of college kept her from being cleared to play during her first three seasons at UMass.
She wasn't aware she'd even suffered her first concussion. Hurrying around her house in Downingtown, Pa., to make a friend's graduation party, she fell.
"I was running out of my house and I don't know what I slipped on. But I slipped across the floor and next thing I know I was on my back," Teman said. "My right shoulder and the left side of my head hurt. I don't know what happened, but I knew I hit my head on something."
Teman told her mother she'd fallen, but did not think it was serious.
Even when she got dizzy and nauseous later that week, Teman assumed she was suffering a minor bout of food poisoning.
Less than two weeks later, Teman hit her head again when she was playing shortstop in a tournament with her summer league team. As she moved to her right to back up a play, the ball caromed off the third baseman's glove and kicked the other way. Teman tried to plant and change direction, but as her cleats caught she fell awkwardly and her head hit the ground.
"I didn't get knocked out, but I wasn't feeling right. Like a stubborn athlete I kept playing," Teman said. "I didn't want to get it checked out so I kept playing for about a month and a half."
But her symptoms went from unpleasant to scary. In one summer league game she found herself dazed at shortstop in the middle of the game.
"I remember just standing there and then looking up and our pitcher was pitching. I wasn't ready to play, I was just standing there," Teman recalled. "I was like 'Whoa, something's not right here.'
"I couldn't remember what was going on. I couldn't stay focused. I had dizziness and I was stumbling everywhere," she said.
Struggles off the field
Teman originally expected to redshirt her first season in Amherst and resume her career the next season. But even off the softball field she struggled.
"It was bad for the first semester. I don't really remember much of September and October of my freshman year," said Teman, who battled dizziness and headaches regularly. "I didn't have my personality at all. I was this big space cadet staring off to wherever. I'd come home from class and I couldn't tell you what my professor looked like or what we did in class that day. It was pretty scary."
She wasn't herself all year. During softball season, unable to play, she helped out by working the video camera at all of the team's games.
Teman's health improved as a sophomore, as her physical exams came back normal, but every time she exercised the headaches and dizziness returned.
Because it looked like she might never be well enough to return to the field, Teman's softball scholarship was transferred to a medical hardship scholarship, which athletes receive when their careers are cut short by injury.
She stayed involved in the program, continuing to film and even served as the color commentator on some of the team's internet audio broadcasts as a junior. But she missed playing.
"Being on the sidelines, you don't understand how tough it is until you're there," she said.
Finally cleared to play
Last summer Teman worked at Athena's Pizza in Amherst. One day not long before the fall semester started, Pierre Rouzier, a doctor who worked with the athletic department, visited the restaurant. Teman asked him if there was any chance she might take one more shot at trying to play.
Rouzier conferred with other doctors and when her first athletic activity produced no adverse symptoms, she got the go-ahead to return to the field.
After being cleared medically, Teman had a tough decision to make. To begin playing again, she would have to give up the medical hardship scholarship and pay her own way.
"That was a tough thing. Obviously out-of-state tuition isn't cheap," she said. "My mom was like 'Go for it. If you have the chance go for it.'"
In the days leading up to her first practice, Teman had a hard time containing her excitement and unloaded that built-up energy into the home run at the scrimmage.
"It was awesome, a storybook moment," coach Elaine Sortino said. "The shame of it all is to never have seen what she could have become. She had incredible versatility as a middle infielder and she would have become a hitter in her own right. She had great speed. It's been really tough to watch her go through all the difficult things she had to deal with.
"It's been very, very special to see her out there," Sortino continued. "Jackie is probably one of the most special kids I ever coached in my life. She's selfless."
Candice Molinari, who was Teman's roommate as a freshman and saw her teammate's difficulties up close, shared her coach's enthusiasm.
"Seeing Jackie with a uniform on in our first game of the season in San Diego was one of the happiest days of my career," Molinari said. "She has so much heart and loves the game so much. Her being here and not being able to dress for three years was heartbreaking. Her having this opportunity is awesome."
Three years away from the game left Teman's offense and defense rusty and well behind that of her teammates. But her speed hadn't left her, so Sortino has used Teman as a pinch runner. She's fifth on the team in runs scored, has stolen six bases without being caught and has appeared in 45 games.
Four years ago, just pinch running would have been a disappointment for Teman, but now she's glad to have a role on the team.
This weekend she will be running in the NCAA Tournament as the Minutewomen (37-12-1) host a four-team regional at the UMass Softball Complex beginning at 2 p.m. Friday. UMass plays Long island at 4:30 Friday.
"I love the game. I feel like I don't take it for granted as much as I used to at all," Teman said. "Knowing how far we can still go this year, being able to be a part of it and make an impact against these big teams, I'm anxious for it.
"It's been an experience. I'm back where I want to be doing what I want to do."
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage including a frequently updated UMass sports blog, go to www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/umsports.