One of the hardest things an athlete can do is miss a season due to injury, especially while their team is having enormous success and is experiencing a special season. For Chapin softball star Andee Dircks, who was ruled out for the year due to a back injury she aggravated on March 9, it’s been especially tough. But along the way, she’s made an impact on the team and helped them in other ways en route to their 5A Lower State appearance.

As a sophomore, Dircks established herself as one of the best hitters in the state, hitting 13 home runs and building a reputation as one of the hardest power hitters in South Carolina. She was a finalist for Gatorade Softball Player of the Year and finished behind only Sarah Gordon from Lexington (who has now gone on to win ACC Freshman of the Year award honors at Louisville). She also committed to a major division one program in Michigan and will play there at the conclusion of her senior season.

But Dircks’ junior season ended right as it was warming up and now, instead of helping her team with the bat in her hands, she is helping in ways that don’t show up on stat sheets or Game Changer box scores. 

“Telling any 16-year old they got to sit isn’t an easy thing, especially with the caliber player she is,” Chapin coach Cal Sayger said. “Any 16-year old is going to struggle with that but she took it in stride.”

Dircks says that the news of her back fracture and the loss of her junior season was one of the toughest days of her career.

“It was really hard and I really didn’t want to stop playing with some of these seniors that I’ve been friends with for years,” Dircks said. “Like, a couple of them I have been playing with since I moved here about four years now. The fact that I’m never going to play with them again just really hit home and hurt so that’s mainly why it’s so hard.”

Dircks’ father, Howie Dircks, has noticed that she responded to this adversity better than many would and that previous setbacks in her career have prepared her to take on a challenge like this while also keeping her love of the sport top of mind.

“Some kids will take an injury and they’ll sulk. They’ll sit back and be upset and that ‘woe is me’ will hit them, But that’s not Andee,” her father said. “When Andee had surgery on her knee, she learned in that process just how much she loved softball in her heart. She doesn’t want to miss a minute of anything. When the doctor finally gave her, after her knee surgery, the ‘ok’ to do anything, she was in the batting cage the next day with a brace on and icing it up afterwards.”

If you go to a Chapin softball game, you’ll notice Dircks sometimes wearing her number 11 jersey while she plays the role as “batgirl”, retrieving bats after runners reach base. It’s a small part of the extra things she is doing to still contribute to this team that is making a serious push for a state title.

Sayger mentioned that sometimes, her voice and her instruction to her teammates can mean just as much coming from her than it does coming from him.

“It wasn’t easy at first and I know she still struggles with it, especially with the success we’ve had recently. But she’s here everyday and she’s like another coach in the dugout. She’s obviously a good hitter so she helps these girls. Coaches tell them the same thing over and over but hearing it from a peer is huge because they take it, they know she’s a proven hitter and she relays some of the things that we see and does a great job with that. She’s helping more than she realizes and more than you would expect a 16-year old who is out for the season could help. She does a tremendous job. She helps us with BP at practices and stuff like that but the ultimate goal is to get her healthy so she can keep playing.”

While the disappointment of missing the season and missing out on a special playoff run with a senior class that she has formed tight friendships with still comes and goes, she still says she finds fulfillment in her role and embraces whatever she can do to positively contribute toward this group’s special season.

“Just being out there and still being on the field with them cheering when they do good is really fun,” Dircks said. “It’s fulfilling in a way to know that I’m at least out there with them even though I can’t be playing.”

Dircks is still limited with what she can do to recover other than just rest. According to her father, she has to wear the brace 16 hours a day and can only remove it to bathe and for swimming exercises, which she takes full advantage of. He, naturally, has been glowing about his daughter’s commitment to getting black on the field and doing the things that she can to help out even if she can’t play. However, he refused to pass up the opportunity to talk about how this Chapin team stepped up in her absence.

“When I told one of the parents she was hurt and was going to miss the season, they joked that we can pack the season up now. But that’s not what happened. The coaches and the team have done a great job, especially the coaches, of bringing this team together. They didn’t give up. They didn’t quit. They found a way to get it done and that comes from the coaches, the parents and the kids. They’re playing great.”