INSIDE COVERAGE: BLESSED TO PLAY AGAIN By Corey Adams Snowflakes covered the diamond at Gardner-Webb's Brinkley Stadium on the opening day of Austin Peay softball season last Friday. It was not only the dawn of a new year for the team, but also the collegiate debut of Kacy Acree. Acree, the second batter of the game, stood in the box with a 1-1 count in the first inning. As the opposing pitcher received a sign from the catcher, the southpaw noticed the defensive alignment shift to right field, triggering an inside pitch. Acree expected it, and connected on a ball on the inner-half, driving it beyond the right field wall for a two-run home run. Quite the debut – a homer in her first at-bat in a Governors uniform – becoming the first player to accomplish the feat since teammate Mel Pavel did so in 2013. "When I'm batting, I'm pretty calm and collective, so it was just like any other at-bat for me," Acree said. "I knew I she was going to throw me an inside pitch and I was ready for it." In her next plate appearance, Acree increased her RBI total, delivering a bases-clearing double to give APSU a 6-1 lead. She would later add a single to her stat sheet, finishing 3-for-5 with five RBI and three runs scored. The California native was a member of the Austin Peay roster last season, but suffered a torn ACL in the preseason while sliding into a base. The road to recovery was difficult, to say the least, for Acree, who had to fly back to her home state to have surgery in December 2014. After an extensive rehab process, she was cleared to play the following June. When the first date on the 2016 schedule came around, it was a bittersweet moment for Acree. "It was amazing," she said. "I'm so blessed to be able to play again. I thank God every day for me being able to play again. It's the best feeling ever being out on the field again and not being in the dugout just watching." Acree could be found in a pair of sweats similar to the photo above, a clipboard in hand charting pitches alongside the coaching staff. In a way, the redshirt freshman gained valuable knowledge from it to help her prepare for the 2016 campaign. "I took it as a learning experience, because my coaches, especially Coach Show (Shane Showalter), said I was going to learn a lot from watching," Acree said. "It was honestly really true. I got a coaching perspective on what didn't go completely right last year. I'm actually able to see the pitches a lot better, because I used to track pitches for our pitchers." Many athletes may have doubted themselves after the hardship which delayed a season years in the making. But not Acree. Even while making the long journey from the west coast to Clarksville, she never considered giving up on her dream. It's this kind of perspective which has her prospering, on a mission to prove the preseason Ohio Valley Conference rankings wrong. "I never second guess myself," she said. "I didn't have the thought process of I may tear it again. I feel like if you worry about stuff like that, there's a greater chance of doing it, because you're favoring it more. "I expect us to do a lot better than what they ranked us. I think we have a really good chance of doing a lot better this year than the previous years. I just think we're a more solid team all-around, with the coaching staff and the girls, and we're more connected. I just feel really good about this season." So far, so good. | 
