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It’s funny how fate works.

If it not for a sprained ankle, which led to a USA Softball tryout, which led to a dropped pop up, which led to a stolen base and a rundown, Chelsea Whitcomb would have been a key cog in the 2015 Virginia Tech softball lineup. Instead, she missed the entire season with a torn ACL and watched helplessly from the dugout. But we’ll get to that in a bit.

Whitcomb was one of the top recruits in recent history to sign with Scot Thomas’ program. The only three-time Metro Player of the Year in the 20-year history of the award, as named by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, she led Cosby High to the Virginia Group AAA state title game as a senior. That year, she batted .470, with six home runs, 23 RBIs, 35 runs and 11 stolen bases and had a 0.44 ERA with 243 strikeouts in 126 innings in the circle. She had her choice of colleges, but chose to be a Hokie.

“I went on a bunch of unofficial visits to all of the schools in Virginia, like JMU and such, but when I got to Tech, something just clicked,” Whitcomb said. “I liked the program, the whole set up, and I really liked the school.”

The rest was history and she set foot on campus last fall ready to make a difference. Limited by a foot injury, she was only able to pitch in the exhibition season, but the staff knew right away they had a rare athlete who could contribute in the circle, in the infield and at the plate. In October, she was extended an invitation to fly out to Chula Vista, California, for a tryout with the USA Junior Women’s National Team. The invite had been set in motion months ago when she was spotted blasting home runs while playing on one leg earlier in the year.

“I twisted my ankle at Nationals against the team that ended up winning,” she said. “I played in Oklahoma the next weekend and only pitched and hit, but I hit four or five home runs, and that’s when they scouted me for a tryout with the Junior Team. I just limped around the bases, but they saw how well I did and how I carried myself.”

That foot injury, which was diagnosed as a stress reaction in her left heel, restricted her life to a boot this past fall, except when she pitched. It also messed up her timing with the rest of her game.

“I was injured the whole fall with the foot injury, so all I did was pitch,” she said. “I couldn’t hit or field, so I was really rusty, to say the least. I wish I would have told the USA Softball people beforehand that I wanted to try out for pitching because that was the only thing I had been used to. Plus, working with Coach Tinch [Angela Tincher O’Brien, Tech’s pitching coach], she had taught me so much to where I was getting really good.

“I got up to bat against some of the best pitchers in the country at that tryout, and it just felt foreign to me. I felt uncomfortable because I hadn’t been up to bat because of the heel. I was basically in a boot 24 hours a day, except for when I pitched, then it went back on.”

Still, she was fully cleared from the injury when she arrived in California in January, but wouldn’t leave that way. On the last day of tryouts - Jan. 4, 2015 to be exact - it all changed. A routine pop up to third base was dropped, allowing her to reach on the error.

“The error was the only reason I got on base,” Whitcomb recalled. “I stole second base and the catcher had a bad throw so I got up to go to third base. But the center fielder picked it up, and I got in a run down. I went back toward second base, and my left leg got caught up under me. That’s when I heard the ‘pop’ and collapsed.”

Whitcomb said she jogged back to the dugout because “I didn’t want people to think I was a wimp” and had the trainer check her out secretly. She said she couldn’t bend her knee back, but everything else was fine. So she ended up playing the next game and stole two bases to end the tryout.

“Yeah, I played the next game because they thought it was a meniscus tear,” Whitcomb said. “After the adrenaline was gone, my knee was hurting. The flight back was miserable because it started to swell up, and when I landed in Chicago, I could barely walk. That’s when I texted Coach Thomas, and they decided to get an MRI. So I got back home at 4 a.m. and had an MRI at 6 a.m. While they were reading the results, I found out I made the team as an alternate, and then literally two minutes later, I found out I tore my ACL.”

The high of making the USA Junior National Team, even if as an alternate, was quickly erased by the pain of knowing she wouldn’t be able to play for the red, white and blue. But her mind quickly went elsewhere.

“When I found out that I had torn my ACL, I immediately thought about Virginia Tech,” she said. “The coaches were expecting a lot out of me, and this was the year we were supposed to have such a strong team. All of a sudden, I couldn’t be a part of that or help them out. At that point, I realized it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth going out there for the tryout. It was a good experience, but I would have rather played with my team this past year.”

Whitcomb underwent surgery in January, as Dr. James Farmer repaired the knee, and then she spent countless hours rehabilitating with a physical therapist once a week and Tech athletic trainers Freddy Purnell and Erin Lanni four times a week. She also used a physical therapist back in the Richmond area after school ended. She was fully cleared to resume softball activities on June 24 and will play in a tournament in July at the Botetourt Sports Complex. But the road to recovery has been hard for the Chesterfield, Virginia, native.

“It took me about two months to wrap my head around the fact that there was nothing I could do to help the team,” Whitcomb said. “If we were struggling, I just had to sit there and be positive and cheer them on. It was the toughest time in my life, to be honest. I’ve never been injured like that before. I missed four games of my junior year of high school, but that’s it. I started playing softball when I was 8 years old, and I played softball 24/7. It was the hardest thing I ever had to go through. There were times when I thought I couldn’t do it, but my parents and everyone was there for me.

“In retrospect, there was some good that came out of it. I got a good GPA, and it allowed me to focus on academics.”

She now has a plan for her academics, including switching majors from human development to psychology with the goal of going to graduate school to get a master’s degree in education.

“It’s really a blessing, because when the injury happened, it allowed me to still take my redshirt year,” she said. “This whole process has taught me so much. I’ve grown up. I’ve matured. I’ve learned the game better. I’m glad Coach Thomas allowed me to travel because it still allowed me to be there for the team as much as I could.”

The training staff will submit the paperwork for Whitcomb’s medical hardship waiver this week, which will almost certainly be granted, and she’ll be a redshirt freshman when she returns to campus later this summer.

When Thomas offered Whitcomb a scholarship several years ago, he viewed her as an infielder, but now, that has changed with Whitcomb’s success last fall and the departure of Kelly Heinz. The Hokies return senior Magie Tyler and sophomore Mikaela Aiken in the circle, and with Whitcomb, could boast one of the top staffs in the conference. Whitcomb will now be asked to contribute at shortstop, at the plate AND in the circle, a task she says she is up for.

“I love pitching now, but I used to hate pitching,” Whitcomb said. “I only started pitching in high school because our starter tore her ACL and then we won the state title. But Tech recruited me before the staff even knew I pitched. It’s going to be a challenge to be great as a hitter, pitcher and infielder. It can be done and will take a lot of work, but it’s going to be hard. I’m ready for the challenge.”

While she’s excited about the challenge of what lies ahead, the past six months have tested her while she could do nothing but sit and watch. It tested her to the point that she considered taking a break from the game she loves so much.

“There wasn’t ever any doubt I was coming back to Tech, but there were a couple times that I had to almost let go for a while and get away from softball,” Whitcomb explained. “But my parents reminded me that I just couldn’t do that. It’s an injury, and everybody goes through that, but it was really hard for me. I was so miserable and I even asked one time not to travel so I wouldn’t have to sit through the games. I leaned on Kelsey Mericka [who missed almost two seasons with back and shoulder injuries] because she went through a lot with injuries as well. She helped me a lot.”

Even in the middle of rehabbing this past spring, Whitcomb was given the option as an alternate to travel and play exhibition games with Team USA this summer, but turned it down, not knowing when she would be cleared. In retrospect, she regrets making that call, but also sees a positive side to declining the offer.

“I do. I regret it,” she confessed. “It would have been a good experience and I know I could have hung with those girls. I just didn’t think I’d be back when I had to make the decision, but in the long run, it’ll allow me to train hard this summer to build my strength back up so that I’m 100 percent ready for fall ball.”

Now healthy again and with a glowing smile back on her face, Whitcomb is ready to tackle what lies ahead.

“Softball makes me a different person,” Whitcomb said. “I’m a different person on the field. I know the game and I know what I’m doing. I just want to do what’s best for our team, and I want to go far. I really hope I can help lead this team and help us do our best.

“I want to make a difference. I want to try and help lead this team to an ACC Championship just like Tinch did. I want to be an impact player.”

After a lengthy detour and fate stepping in, that road to impact and success is now open again.

For updates on Virginia Tech softball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Softball