Left fielder Cece Thorington’s role is normally restricted to pinch running for the Michigan softball team. Sprinting around the bases for her comparatively slower teammates is typically how she makes her mark on the Wolverines’ games.
But Tuesday, Thorington started in the batting lineup in Michigan’s win over Oakland and got her chance to make her mark from the batting box. In the bottom of the second inning, she struck. After taking a ball from Golden Grizzlies right-hander Alyssa Balcom, Thorington swung hard, connected with the ball and drove it down the right side and over the wall. It was her first collegiate home run.
“Pretty amazing,” Thorington said of her home run. “I grew up a Michigan fan, so to get to wear the eight letters across my chest and have a game like that is pretty cool.”
It was a big step for the freshman compared with her usual role. But that role doesn’t properly illustrate her importance to the team. Despite starting just four games, she’s played in 30 of them and has nine runs in her pinch hitting role. Not to mention that she’s also 4-for-4 on stolen bases.
“She’s somebody that we’re gonna ask to come off the bench to either be a defensive specialist or a pinch runner in her first year,” Tholl said. “She’s got some really good tools, and I think that the future is really bright for Cece. … She’s a great athlete that has an electric arm.”
Her role on Tuesday wasn’t limited to just a home run, either. Thorington got herself on base in the bottom of the fourth inning with a single to second base. Despite junior second baseman Indiana Langford grounding out to third just a batter later, she managed to advance to second. And though freshman first baseman Lauren Putz’s hit was only a single for her, for Thorington, it brought her home for her second run of the night.
Thorington’s confidence has grown exponentially since the start of the season. Coming from the small high school of Pickney, which enrolls under 700 students, a school as big as Michigan took some adjustment for her. But she’s adjusted to the big stage and is working on perfecting her roles within the team in her freshman year. And as her coaches have placed more trust in her, she’s found more confidence in her game and her ability to make impactful plays for her team. Her teammates have noticed it, too.
“She is a sleeper,” senior right-hander Emerson Aiken said. “She is quiet confidence. Her name is called, and she gets in there, and she acts like she’s been in the lineup the whole time. She carries herself with a lot of maturity and grit in the way that she plays when she does get those opportunities. It’s awesome to see a freshman class with so much of that and so much confidence, and it is really good looking for the future of Michigan softball.”
Thorington’s role as a pinch runner might remain her primary one for the rest of the season, but she’s quietly laying the groundwork for a breakout sophomore year. On Tuesday, she proved she has all the tools to do it. All she needs is the opportunity.
