Softball

Eagle on Field Again
May 3, 2006

By J.T. Simms
Sportswriter, The Charleston Daily Mail 

Krystal Robertson never saw it coming.

Her coach wishes she had not had to see it at all.

"I don't even like to think about it," first-year University of Charleston softball Coach Annette Olenchick said of the practice accident that came frighteningly close to ending senior second baseman Robertson's college career about five weeks ago.

Thanks to a little luck, a surgeon's skill, and a whole lot of determination, Robertson is finishing that career on her own terms.

That means she will be on the field when the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (26-19 overall, 17-9 West Virginia Conference) face Davis and Elkins (13-21, 7-19) at noon Thursday in the first round of the WVC Tournament in Vienna.

"We were just taking outfield," Robertson said. "A routine drill we do everyday and she was just hitting to centerfield but didn't get it up in the air and hit a line drive instead."

Robertson had just taken a throw from the outfield and turned right into the oncoming ball.

"Coach felt terrible," Robertson said.

The extent of the injury was not determined right then.

"I didn't realize anything was wrong at first," she said. "Just a black eye."

So Robertson loaded up on Advil and was back on the field the next day.

"I played two games the next day," she said. "I did well for having four broken bones in my face."

The pain continued to worsen so she finally went to have it checked and that was when the broken bones were discovered.

"I had four fractures in the left side of my face," Robertson said. "They put in three plates and 10 screws."

The Golden Eagle lineup was broken in several places as well.

Robertson is a four-year starter at second base and the squad's second leading hitter.

"When we lost her it was huge," Olenchick said. "Her leadership, work ethic ... She is our leadoff hitter, has great speed."

The loss could have been for much longer than two weeks.

"I could have been done," Robertson said.

"It was a good thing I didn't lose vision."

Sporting a facemask attached to her batting helmet when she is at the plate and another type of clear mask in the field, Robertson has returned and does not seem to have missed a beat.

"I feel like I picked up right where I left off," she said. "I couldn't let (the injury) set me back."

She even used it as a learning tool ... and not just in softball.

"My field is radiology and we did an X-ray after the surgery," Robertson, who plans to remain in the area and work after graduation, said.

"It was definitely an abnormal injury but it turned out well, my plastic surgeon did a great job."

She describes the hardly noticeable scar as "minimal" and pretty much all that remains is a painful memory and the mask.

The memory is fading and the mask will soon be history.

"I was assured by my surgeon that by June 1, the left side of my face will be as strong as my right," Robertson said.

Returning to the field three weeks ago has given her plenty of time to get for the WVC tourney.

"She came back in two weeks which is amazing," Olenchick said. "(The doctor) said she could play but she has to wear the mask."

On the season Robertson is hitting .371 and easily leads the team with 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts.

A determined recovery is giving her and fellow senior and former Hoover teammate Amber Snyder a chance to wind up their collegiate careers on a high note.

Sophomore Michelle Sabelhaus leads the Golden Eagles and the conference in hitting with a .465 average and is the number two pitcher behind junior Andrea Lewis.

Lewis, a former Sissonville All-Stater, has a 21-13 record this year.