'True teammate': How West Henderson softball's Deana McMinn found key role after devastating injury

HENDERSONVILLE -- West Henderson third baseman Deana McMinn saw coach Dana Braznell signaling her to round second base and head to third after she hit a line drive to center field against Erwin. After touching second, she glanced up and saw Braznell put up the stop sign, telling her to remain there.

But McMinn didn't turn around. She kept charging toward third base. The senior went to slide but hesitated, which caused her leg to get caught in the infield dirt and twist. McMinn said she heard a pop and then crumpled.

"I knew that something was wrong because I've never had an injury before," McMinn said. "I've never broken a bone or anything in my life. That pain, it shot up through my whole body, and I knew that something was wrong."

A day later, a doctor confirmed the worst — she had torn her ACL. It's a season-ending injury, but McMinn didn't let that happen.

McMinn has shown up to every Falcons game and practice. She has done whatever she can to help as West Henderson collected an 18-2 regular-season record, won the Mountain 7 Conference and clinched a No. 5 seed in the NCHSAA 3A playoffs.

The Falcons defeated No. 28 Stuart W. Cramer 10-0 on Tuesday to advance to the second round. West Henderson (19-2) will host No. 12 Crest (16-4) on Friday.

'It broke my heart, and I didn't cry until we had a game'

McMinn suspected that something was seriously wrong when she went to the doctor the day after her painful slide. She said preparing for the worst eased the sting of the diagnosis.

The first thing McMinn did after learning her fate was call Braznell.

"I told her that this may have been a blessing in disguise because it allows her to learn parts of the game that other people don't have a chance to and that she would always be important," Braznell said. "It didn't matter if she was on the field or in the dugout, she would always be that key part of the team."

McMinn showed up at West Henderson for its game against Pisgah later that day.

"It broke my heart, and I didn't cry until we had a game that same day," McMinn said. "I came down even though I was in pain because I wanted to be there for my teammates, and I didn't want to miss out on my senior season. It hit me at the end of that game."

Despite the pain of her new reality, McMinn kept showing up.

McMinn said she wouldn't let herself sulk about her misfortune. Instead, she became the person teammates could turn to after a bad at-bat or play on the field.

"I just try to be a shoulder that they can cry on because softball is such a mental game," she said. "So many emotions go through your head. Everyone gets down on themselves at some point."

She also helped coach the Falcons' junior varsity third baseman and Haley Littrell, who took over for McMinn at third on the varsity team.

Braznell said McMinn charted pitches during games. At practice, she did little things to work on her game like sitting on a bucket and practicing her swing.

McMinn said watching the game from the dugout has helped her learn more about softball. The biggest lesson she has learned is why coaches make certain decisions, like choosing a particular pitch to be thrown or calling for a bunt. She also understands their decisions well enough that she can explain them to other players.

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Deana McMinn has more softball in her future

Even though she has taken the field for the Falcons for the final time, her softball career isn't over. She plans to play softball at Brevard College next year.

Braznell believes the injury will ultimately help McMinn.

She said any athlete can work hard physically to be a talented player. But it's difficult mentally to stay locked in when an injury occurs or when something doesn't go a player's way.

"Those are the types of things that impress you when a player can go from being a starter to actually being able to realize, 'Hey, I'm not starting, but I'm still in this,'" Braznell said. "And to me, that's a true teammate."

Zachary Huber is a high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times and Hendersonville Times-News. Email him at zhuber@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @zacharyahuber. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times and Times-News.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: West Henderson softball has 'true teammate' in injured Deana McMinn