Parents everywhere who put children through college can appreciate Hampshire’s Delaney Rummell.
What Rummell does on the softball field also can be appreciated by anyone who ever saw a bat strike the ball.
Three months before Rummell stood in March 23 for her first high school at-bat, she committed to a scholarship with Illinois.
Parents, imagine that.
No years of fretting over college money or indecision over choices and visits. It’s finished. A dream scenario.
“I wasn’t especially surprised about it — it was more like I was just excited about how they had approached me about it,” Rummell said.
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It occurred after a fall Champaign camp.
It’s not completely unheard of with today’s recruiting climate for girls in softball, soccer or volleyball to receive scholarships without extensive high school resumes.
This speaks to how critical club and travel sports are in the process compared to the high schools, but that’s a bone of contention for another day.
Genetics are on Rummell’s side. Her parents are Mike and Stefanie Rummell. Mike caught passes well enough in 1988 as a Streamwood wide receiver to become The Courier-News Football Player of the Year.
It wasn’t as if Illinois recruited Rummell from the crib. She had a small body of work before her first high school season in the summer for coach Jerry Quinn’s Illinois Chill program.
But it took faith by Illinois and hard work by Rummell to reach this level.
That’s because Rummell sat out her freshman season after suffering a torn ACL. In fact, she tore each ACL before the age of 14.
“She tore them when she was 11 and 13,” Stefanie Rummell said. “The first time she was playing basketball. And the second time we’re not exactly sure, but it was maybe a month later when we found out what it was.
“It was bothering her. She was in warmups at a softball tournament and went to field a ball and it folded on her.”
So last year, Rummell did what she could to help Hampshire.
“I was team manager,” Rummell said.
With two ACL surgeries and pressure from her reputation as a Big Ten recruit, how has last year’s team manager fared?
Rummell was batting .636 through Thursday with nine homers, 26 extra-base hits, 27 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. She went 12-for-15 this week in four straight Fox Valley Conference wins.
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“Our coach tells us to go up there with the mentality to put it in play and move runners,” Rummell said. “When I’m up there, I try to look for my pitch and drive it.
“Even if it’s inside it goes to center or right. I don’t hit much to left, really.”
A shortstop by trade, Rummell took on the surprising challenge as a catcher despite her knee history. No one strays off base.
“She was never a catcher before, but Illinois is taking her as a catcher and shortstop,” Stefanie Rummell said. “Jerry Quinn tried her there. We thought that was kind of ironic and fun.”
Despite her power, Rummell remains a leadoff hitter.
“We’ve got power already,” Hampshire coach Kelly Wasilewski said. “Peyton De Chant, Melissa Esparza and Gwen Malecke are doing that, and Delaney kind of sidled into the leadoff spot and is doing an awesome job.”
It comes as no surprise to see Hampshire (14-7) getting hot midway through the season.
“We have a plethora of young players,” Wasilewski said. “We have 11 freshmen and sophomores. It’s going to be exciting to see what the future of this program is going to be. The sky is the limit.”
It’s especially true for Rummell, Hampshire’s natural and Illinois’ future.
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