When
Chantel Purcella first started playing softball at age 8, she literally jumped out of the batter's box before the ball crossed home plate.
On defense, Purcella was more interested in watching nature bloom around her than in fielding the ball that came in her direction.
"I would put my glove up to try to catch the butterflies or pick dandelions," the
Albuquerque High senior said. "I hated playing the outfield, I really did."
Purcella has come a long way.
The 5-foot-7 righthander not only has made a complete 180-degree turnaround in the way she views the sport — "I absolutely love it now," Purcella said — but she's also transformed herself into a bona fide pitching talent.
Chantel Purcella, Albuquerque
Courtesy photo
Purcella, who has the most strikeouts of any pitcher in 5A (New Mexico's largest classification) the last two years, has earned a full-ride scholarship to play at Western New Mexico University. She has been one of the main reasons why the Bulldogs (15-4 overall, 4-1 District 5-5A) have become a program that has advanced to the state playoffs in each of the last three years.
Purcella is 15-3 with a 1.25 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 117 innings pitched. She considers herself a power pitcher — "Everything I throw has to be thrown hard or it won't spin," she said — which is a bit ironic considering she doesn't throw a fastball.
Instead, Purcella relies on a curveball, screwball, riseball and dropball to continually baffle opposing hitters. Her pitches pack tremendous movement, often times breaking a foot or more from the time she releases the ball until the time they hit the catcher's glove.
Purcella isn't just a standout pitcher, however. She packs quite a wallop with the bat, and lately teams have pitched around her. It's no wonder, given the fact that Purcella leads the Bulldogs in several offensive categories, including average (.590), hits (36), RBIs (18), triples (two), on-base percentage (.632), slugging percentage (.786) and OPS (1.419).
None of this would've been remotely possible had it not been for Purcella's mom, Barbara, who is in her second year as Albuquerque's coach and forced her daughter to play even when she didn't want to. Credit also goes to Rosanne Katz, who has been Purcella's personal pitching coach for the last nine years.
"Even though I hated it when my mom made me play, I give thanks to her now for pushing me all those times even if I was having a horrible time," Chantel said. "And Rosanne showed me what I was capable of."
Said Barbara: "Once I set up the private lessons with Rosanne, Chantel fell in love with the game. Chantel really connected with her, and from that point on, something clicked. I don't know how, but some how, some way, Chantel received the spark she needed."
Considering Chantel suffered a contusion to her left knee while playing with her traveling club team in January — she was sidelined for 10 weeks — it's quite impressive that she has once again put up some spectacular numbers.
Although the Purcellas have enjoyed their time together, they both admitted things were extremely difficult in the beginning.
"The early years were the hardest because she didn't like the game," Barbara said. "She played softball because I had her do it, and she hated it. She was the girl in right field dancing and picking the grass, and being the competitive person I am, I kept on pushing her. We had our battles, for sure. She put up with me for a long time, and I put up with her. We've had our trials and errors, but we're good now."
Things were so bad in the early years that Chantel would ask her mom if she could go to church — yes, go to church — with her grandparents instead of practice.
"But after all these years, I realize what my mom was doing," Chantel said. "I just needed time to find my love for the game."
The same girl who used to hate the sport now leads by example, treating every practice and game as if her salvation depended on it. After the team suffered a humbling 8-2 loss to West Mesa (Albuquerque) last Thursday, the coach didn't say much to the players afterward — she let her daughter do all the talking.
"Chantel stepped up and led the team meeting (after the game) with the girls," Barbara said. "She's the backbone of the team and keeps the team rolling. She can get the girls back on track almost better than I could. It's easy to coach her now because she coaches herself."
After three consecutive playoff exits in the opening round, Albuquerque hopes to get over the hump this season.
"It would be incredible if we could win a game in the state playoffs," Chantel said. "I feel like we should've won our opening game the last two years, but we haven't been able to get it done."
Now in the twilight of her high school career, Chantel said she felt lucky to have such undying support from her mom, Katz and all of her family members who supported her over the years. Less than a year ago, she didn't think she would be playing college softball. She attacked the recruiting process in the same manner she goes after hitters — with a controlled fury — sending an estimated 50-plus letters to prospective college coaches.
In virtually every case, she didn't get a response. The silence was deafening.
"It was discouraging when nothing happened for me," Chantel said.
But seemingly out of nowhere, Kylee Christman, a former teammate and friend who is now playing at Western New Mexico, told Chantel to come play for the program.
"And once I visited Western New Mexico, I knew it was the place where I wanted to be," Chantel said. "I knew a couple of the girls on the team, and it felt right. It felt I belonged."
