People are learning not to chuckle at Laura Severson’s dreams.
As a freshman at Lincoln-Way, she announced her intention of someday earning a softball scholarship to Stanford.
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“Most of us realized she was young and that in few years she’d come to her senses,” said Severson’s summer team coach, Jack Podlesny. “I don’t know of a softball player east of the Mississippi River that gets recruited by Stanford.”
Undaunted, Severson meticulously developed herself into a five-tool player–she hits for average (.475) and power (10 doubles, two triples) and she runs, fields and throws with any athlete in the state. As a pitcher, she is 10-1 with four shutouts and an earned-run average of 0.85.
“She’s the whole package,” said Lincoln-Way Central coach Dick Mandella. “Laura is a great third baseman with a terrific arm and range. She hits the ball all over and is the best suicide bunter on our team. She is an excellent baserunner, and on the mound has developed into more of a power pitcher, averaging double-figure strikeouts. She is a dominant player who can beat you with any part of her game.”
Severson is quick to deflect the praise.
“If I’m such a complete player, it’s because of the way I was trained by the Whiteford softball organization,” Severson said of her Joliet-based summer softball program. “There are no prima donnas, no stars with the Sharks. You are taught to be a team player. If that means playing another position for the good of the team, you do it.”
Severson meets Stanford’s rigorous requirements in the classroom with a 4.5 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, ranks No. 34 in a class of 1,110 and scored a 27 on her ACT. Last semester she received her first B since 4th grade–in pre-calculus.
After she spent a week last summer at a Stanford softball camp, Cardinal coaches were impressed enough to offer her a scholarship. That’s a rare move: West Coast schools recruit almost exclusively in California, the nation’s softball hotbed.
“There were other schools recruiting me like Northwestern, Iowa, DePaul, Illinois, North Carolina and Wisconsin, but going to Stanford has always been my dream,” said Severson, who is widely acclaimed by coaches as the most complete player in the Chicago area.
“Now I’m starting to work on my next dream. I want to be a sportscaster on ESPN–the next Linda Cohn.”
Despite a relentless work ethic that sends her to a batting cage for an hour after going 0-for-3 in a game, she can also strike up a close friendship with one of her biggest rivals.
“She does a lot of funny things and is always making people laugh,” said Sandburg catcher Sarah Watson. “We both like country music and always go to the same restaurant. We go rollerblading, to the movies and just hang out.
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“At first, my friends at Sandburg couldn’t understand how I could have a best friend from Lincoln-Way. But we never talk about softball.”
Severson rarely dwells on herself, except when this admitted perfectionist is delving into self-criticism. She credits her success to parents Brian and Donna for instilling the proper perspective on life along with that blue-collar work ethic. Her athletic prowess has been honed by Podlesny, Mandella, Central pitching coach Teresa Coccaro, private batting instructor Mark Doran and private running tutor Tim Graf.
“People still roll their eyes when I say I’m going to Stanford,” Severson said. “They tell me the Pac-10 is by far the best college softball conference in the country, with UCLA and Arizona always winning NCAA championships. And I know there’s a bias out there toward players from the Midwest.
“But I’m determined to work as hard as I can to show everyone that I belong on the Stanford softball diamond and in the Stanford classroom. I’m sure it’s going to be rough. There will be some great West Coast players on the team and some absolute geniuses in the classroom. But I like challenges.
“And for everyone who thinks I shouldn’t be going out there, I’m going to prove them wrong.”