A change in plans

ADAM RAEDER
Star Beacon

June 20, 2008 02:48 am

— When Amanda Furmage was making her college plans, softball was nowhere to be found.
The Conneaut shortstop wasn’t sure she was good enough.
“I never thought I’d be good enough to play,” Furmage said. “I don’t know, when you watch college softball on TV, it’s not what you’re used to.”
And, anyway, she had other plans.
Always strong in science, Furmage was going to be a pharmacist, and pharmacy school was going to be enough of a challenge.
But as the time neared for her to make her final decision, things changed.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she had another calling. She was going into for all the wrong reasons, she decided.
What she was truly meant to do was teach.
“I started thinking about majors that would make me happy. I thought being with students every day being an influence in their lives is something I wanted,” Furmage said. “I just prayed about it. I know what my calling is.”
Then, when she decided Grove City (Pa.) College was where she wanted to go for her secondary education degree, Furmage took it as another sign — her softball career was supposed to continue.
After all, she’d already met Grove City head coach Chelle Fuss. In fact, Fuss even came out to watch her play.
“I just thought that if I was going to go to Grove City, that was like a sign I should play softball,” Furmage said. “Going to the pharmacy schools, I wasn’t going to play. And I was going to Grove City, and the reason I even heard of Grove City is because their coach contacted me.
“I really like their morals. It’s a Christian college, which is something I was looking for, and it’s a beautiful campus. The other reason is they really challenge academic program and I was up for the challenge.”
Furmage was a bit surprised that Fuss was still interested in her, because the shortstop felt she didn’t prove she was up to the challenge of college ball the one time Fuss saw her in a game.
“I can tell she gives players second chances because the game she came and saw really bad, I went 0-for-5,” Furmage said. “It was a really, really, cold day and I went 0-for-5 and didn’t have any balls hit to me. And she still believed in me.”
The only other time Fuss had seen Furmage was at a college showcase at Kent State University two years earlier. But Fuss stuck by Furmage, even if she hasn’t told the shortstop where, exactly, she be playing with the Wolverines.
But Furmage is ready for any role the coach throws at her.
“I guess it doesn’t really matter to me,” Furmage said. “I want to play, but if I sit on the bench, it will be another experience for me. I never really got to sit the bench ever.”
Furmage joins a program that went 15-23 last season but finished strong, winning nine of its last 11 games.
“They’re pretty young,” Furmage said. “I know that at the beginning of the year, they struggled a bit because their pitcher was hurt, but the end of year they got a lot of momentum and there’s going to be a lot of momentum going into next year, which they are excited about.”
And Furmage just wants to contribute to the cause any way she can.
“I think I always make contact with the ball, I rarely strike out. I take pride in my defense. If I make an error, I’m mad for the rest of the game,” she said. “I guess I’m a leader, but I lead by example instead of getting on people.”
Now, she’ll be leading again on the diamond, though she never expected to be.