Pennfield baseball coach says it's amazing to get to 'not watch' daughter play softball

Does Pennfield baseball coach Rob Moran feel like he's missing out a little bit, not getting to see his daughter play most of her games for the Panther softball team? Sure he does. That's because he's a dad first and a coach second.

But considering Avery Moran was battling for her life a few years ago, he's just happy she gets to play softball — or do anything else.

As the longtime Panther baseball coach, and usually busy with his own team, Moran isn't able to watch many Pennfield softball games. But his concerns were far bigger not too long ago.

"When you start talking about what she went through, at that time, we weren't concerned if she would play sports again. I was more afraid we were going to lose her, period," Rob Moran said. "The fact that she is playing and pitching is still just amazing to me."

In December of her freshman year, Avery woke up one day with a sore arm that had turned purple and was twice the size of the other arm. After a trip to the emergency room, and transports to two different hospitals, it was learned that Avery had a six-inch long blood clot in her subclavian vein and had a complete occlusion of the vein for return blood flow to her heart. She was diagnosed with Paget Schroetter Syndrome, which was brought on by her body type, her hypermobility in the joints of her upper body and the amount of reps and force she generates while playing sports — which at the time was softball, basketball and volleyball. Her subclavian vein was being pinched between her first rib and clavicle and then squeezed by muscles that were too developed for her small frame. Medical professionals say Paget Schroetter Syndrome can have life-threatening complications if left untreated.

A series of surgeries around the shoulder area resulted in the removal of some muscle tissue and a rib and she wasn't able to use her arm for more than four months, except in physical therapy.

"There was a time when someone said, a doctor or someone, that I might not get to play sports anymore," Avery said. "I did not even want to think about that."

However, Avery was later cleared to return and even made it back for the final few games of her freshman season on the junior varsity softball team.

Now, as a junior, Avery is a leader on the varsity team, having thrown a no-hitter this season for the Panthers. It's a journey that did not seem possible at the time.

"My pitching coach still can't believe I am back," Avery said. "She asked another coach who specialized in my type of pitching and he said I would never be able to pitch again and, hearing that, my coach cried."

And what Avery didn't know was that there were even more doubts than that.

"Avery's pitching coach (Jenn Harty) reached out to a national softball pitching coach to ask about expectations," said Avery's mother, Suzanne Moran. "He told her that most athletes quit within six months of trying to return to pitching because there are so many obstacles and setbacks. They simply choose a different position. We decided to not share that information with Avery or anyone in our circle to keep the comeback energy positive.

"So when Avery steps on the softball field or volleyball court, she worked for that moment. She loves the game."

With all of that as a backdrop, you can see why Rob Moran would not want to miss any of the now-precious time Avery has on the softball field. He thought he might even leave the baseball program. But the family wasn't going to go there.

"The softball coach position came open and I considered taking it," said Rob Moran, who has been part of Pennfield baseball for 29 years. "I have put a lot of time into the baseball program, but it is your daughter, so you think about it.

"But Avery pushed me to stay in baseball. She always told me, I am the baseball coach. That's how she knows me, and that's all she has ever known and she didn't want me to give that up. So, yeah, it's tough to miss some of her games, but I don't feel guilty about it. It's how it should be and it's how she wants it to be."

Moran has helped coach Avery's softball teams growing up and sees all of her games during the summer and fall club travel season. During this spring, he will get to see only three of her Pennfield doubleheaders.

As for the other games?

"The baseball and softball teams travel together a lot of times. So sometimes I can stand there as a third-base coach on our field and look across the diamond and see the softball scoreboard and kind of see what's going on with her game," Rob Moran said.

The few games he does get to be in the stands, Avery appreciates the support.

"I can hear him coaching me from the stands when he's there and gets to watch," Avery said. "And, for me, growing up with the baseball team, I miss being at his games, too. I was the batgirl for the baseball team growing up, kept score for the team for years. I have been a part of it my whole life.

"But our softball games will usually get over before the baseball games do, so I get to watch the end of his games sometimes."

Avery is back playing volleyball and softball full-time now. She hasn't returned to basketball, due to where her surgery was and the danger of absorbing hard contact in the shoulder and chest area.

It is still a process from the day a little more than two years ago, when she was laying in a surgical bed at the University of Michigan Hospital, including some time last summer when she lost some movement in her arm and was experiencing numbness.

But therapy has helped with those issues and her "coach's daughter" mentality has her going full speed forward.

Which is why the family had a T-shirt made up with the quote that fits her drive when she was finally cleared to play: "The Comeback is always greater than the Setback."

"It amazes us what she's done," Rob Moran said. "But with her, really nothing ever surprises me. She's had to make some adjustments because of the lack of muscle in some of her shoulder, and she's had to do some things differently, but she has never made any excuses.

"She just goes out and gets it done and we celebrate every moment that we can with her along the way."

Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter @billbroderick. 

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Pennfield baseball coach: 'Amazing' daughter is still playing softball