No more tears for Florida-bound softball star Taylore Fuller

Taylore Fuller's first year of softball was filled with tears. She hated every minute of it and cried every minute she was on the field.

"My teammates had to drag me on to the field every inning," said Fuller. "I hated it. There wasn't anything I liked about it. It was just awful."

Ginger Fuller, Taylore's mother and high school coach at Chiefland (Fla.), said that first year of T-Ball was a "disaster."

"She'd sit in the dirt out in right field and cry," said Ginger. "We had to sit her out the next year, then she played with the 8-year-olds in a pitching machine league. It went a lot better."



Or as Taylore puts it, the year off "helped" a lot. She missed playing softball with her friends.

"I took a year off, then played rec league, then went to a 10-Under league with my friends. We had good team ... we had fun," said Fuller. "We won state and went to nationals. It was a big deal for us and we got to go to South Carolina to play. We dyed our hair blue and yellow. I am a very competitive person, so as the competition got better, I fed off of it."

Fuller has been feeding off it ever since and will attend the University of Florida on a softball scholarship.

She's also been feeding off opposing pitchers ever since. Her high school numbers are some of the most imposing in prep annals, as she is having a dream senior season with gargantuan numbers. She is posting a .787 batting average (37 hits in 47 at bats), has a dozen home runs, scored 47 times and has driven in 28. After 20 games, her slugging percentage is 1.957. She has struck out just twice and of the 32 times she has walked, 26 have been intentional. She is 20-for-20 in stolen base attempts this season.

"If she's not hitting a home run, she hits it hard," said Ginger.

As a junior, Taylore hit 15 homers in only 52 at-bats (she was intentionally walked 35 times), had a slugging percentage of 1.750, and a batting average of .673. She stole 33 bases and scored 52 runs. As a sophomore, Taylore hit an area-best 13 home runs to go along with 63 runs scored, 50 stolen bases, 25 RBIs and 14 doubles. She had an .841 on-base percentage.



Earlier this season, Taylore was intentionally walked with the bases loaded and two outs. The strategy worked as Chiefland lost.

"We were playing our arch rivals in every sport, Dixie County," recalled Taylore. "We were up by 10 in the fifth and they scored to keep the game going. The bases were loaded with two outs and the score tied and they intentionally walked me. They walked me every time. They went on to win, 14-12."

Intentional walks began during Taylore's sophomore season. She said it was difficult at first and she would get mad, but now she understands that opponents don't want her to change the game. She views it as respect for her ability.

"She has God-given ability and her work ethic and attitude are what put her in an elite class," said Ginger.

The coach, who played tennis in college while her husband Randy played football, said they have a batting cage at their home and for as long as they can remember, "Taylore probably hits 300 balls" a day off a tee.

"It started way back when we got Taylore the Dot Richardson (former USA Olympic player) video on hitting. That's how she developed her mechanics. She would review herself. She has worked at it so much, she can tell you why she just misses. She hated the tee when she was young ... sometimes it's just not fun. But the tee and soft toss have been the key."



Despite hitting so many home runs, Taylore still remembers her first one.

"I was 10 and we were playing the Diamond Dusters in a tournament," said Taylore, who has received all As and only one B during her high school career. "It was in the last inning and we trailed. It (the homer) not only won the game for us, but it hit an RV."

Today, Taylore is 5-foot-10 and is known from coast to coast thanks to her tenure with the Wichita Mustangs' travel team. Prior the Mustangs, she played for the Gainesville Gold, but Florida's Walton suggested a team that played on a national level.

"He wanted me to see more D-1 pitching," said Taylore. "With the Gold, we mostly played in Florida, whereas the Mustangs played all over the country."

Indeed she did. More importantly, they got to see Taylore and, as usual, she was impressive.

In her first game with the Mustangs and against one of ASA's premier teams, Fuller hit a pair of home runs off Nancy Bowling, who has signed with Arizona. And, yes, she was walked her third time at bat.



"She's a very special athlete," said Mark Griggs, who coaches the Mustangs. "She's a five-tool player. She has glove, hits, runs, cannon of an arm and has power. She will be successful at anything she does at Florida."

Griggs said, "If she was a boy, she'd be a first round (Major League) draft choice. She does it all and then some."

Griggs said the only player who has comparable power to Fuller is former Gator Kelsey Bruder, the SEC's 2011 Player of the Year.

Though Fuller is one of the top softball players in the country, Griggs says it isn't what she does on the field that impresses him the most. It's her "person."

"She makes my 12-year-old handicapped son feel like a king," said Griggs. "She's strong and powerful and graceful, but she is very soft-hearted. She is so down to earth. Her parents have done a great job raising her. She has so much respect for everyone. She's going to play softball at one of the premier schools in the country and could be full her of herself, but she isn't."

Signing with Florida was something Fuller had dreamed about. It marked Chiefland's first Division I signee since Jarret Johnson inked a football scholarship with Alabama in 1999.



Walton said, "Taylore Fuller is one of the most powerful hitting catchers I have seen in a long time. She is so fun to watch play and brings a tremendous amount of confidence to her game.
 
"Taylore is fiery, she leads very well and has a cannon for an arm," added Walton. "It is going to be fun to coach her for four years."

Like Griggs said, Fuller is special. And in more ways than just on the field.

"Softball and softball stats are great and fun and her stats are incredible, but she is the type of person you want your children to be like," said Griggs. "I can't wait to see what she does at Florida. It will be special, too."

And any tears likely will be from opponents.