'My dream school': Pinckney's CeCe Thorington commits to Michigan softball
CeCe Thorington wasn’t looking to cast a wide net during her college softball recruiting process.
Her mind was made up, really from the time she became aware of college softball.
“I’ve always loved watching Michigan softball,” said Thorington, a junior center fielder for Pinckney. “I have a lot of pictures of me when I was 10 years old at their games. It’s always so fun to watch. It’s always been a dream.”
That dream will come true for Thorington once she moves on from high school.
She has accepted a softball scholarship offer from the University of Michigan. The only other known Pinckney players to play for Division I programs are Julie Hall at Michigan State from 1991-94 and Jenn Lucas at Eastern Michigan from 2012-15.
“It’s home,” said Thorington, whose high school is 22 miles from the Wolverines’ home field. “I got to watch them practice and everything like that. I got to meet the team. I could tell the energy and their family feeling is amazing. Being so close to my parents, as well. The education is top of the line. It’s all amazing there. It’s always been my dream school.”
Thorington visited Wayne State early in the recruiting process, but didn’t make any other visits. Michigan began expressing interest in her a couple months ago.
Michigan is one of the premier programs in the country, not just in the northern United States. The Wolverines were national champions in 2005 and national runners-up in 2015. They have made 27 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and 12 trips to the Women’s College World Series, tying for sixth all-time.
To get exposure, Thorington played a national tournament schedule with a team based out of the Legacy Center in Brighton. She will be playing in a tournament this weekend in Florida. Even though her recruiting process has ended, there are other players on the team looking for college opportunities.
“It was definitely stressful playing all the time,” she said. “You always have to be on top of your game. It’s kind of like the first big decision I’ve had to make. It’s a decision that lasts me a long time and my whole future. That was kind of a big pill to swallow.”
Many of the tournaments in which Thorington played were during the fall. She juggled those demands with cross country her first two years of high school, but focused on softball as a junior because that’s considered the most important year for recruiting.
Cross country is the sport in which Thorington made her initial impact as a high school athlete. She was a regional champion and second in the SEC White as a freshman. As a sophomore, she was the SEC White champion. She led Pinckney to the state Division 2 meet each season.
She has juggled softball and track and field during the spring. She won the SEC White 1,600-meter title in 5:24.93 as a freshman and was second in the 800 in the league meet in 2:26.48 as a sophomore.
Thorington plans to run track in the spring, but isn’t sure about cross country in the fall.
The foot speed that made her successful in those sports is her greatest asset on the softball field.
She has stolen 81 bases and scored 100 runs as Pinckney’s lead-off hitter during her first two years of high school. She hit .440 as a freshman and .488 as a sophomore, making first-team All-Livingston County each season.
Thorington received honorable mention all-state last spring, the only Livingston County softball player to earn postseason honors at the state level.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Pinckney's CeCe Thorington commits to Michigan softball
