Boston College Athletics
Softball's Speer Draws on Inspiration from her Mother
April 10, 2012 | Softball
April 10, 2012
Growing up, Tory Speer's parents expected two things of her: she had to do her absolute best in the classroom and play her hardest on the field. These two things were non-negotiable and still are today, but by Speer's own choice.
After all, the Boston College softball sophomore standout isn't doing all of this only for herself. She's also doing it for her mom, Katy, who died during Speer's senior year of high school after a long battle with breast cancer.
"I try to play for her and I know she'd be really proud of me here," Speer said. "Everything I do, I try to think of her and do the best I can to make her proud."
When you look at the right fielder's long list of accomplishments, it's clear her mom has a lot to be proud of. Last year, Speer was named BC's first-ever ACC Freshman of the Year after leading the team in batting average (.326) hits (43) and RBIs (37) and finishing second in home runs (11) and slugging percentage (.644).
At the time, Speer excelled in the classroom, earning the Athletics Director's Award for Academic Achievement and being named to the All-ACC Academic Team. It's become second nature for the communication major to balance demanding school work and a difficult softball schedule because of the emphasis her parents placed on academics.
"If I got good grades, I could go play softball and I've been doing that," Speer said. "Academics always come first for me. I came to BC because it's a great school. And, in student-athlete, student comes first so it's a really big part."
That's not to say any of this has been easy for Speer. Home is far from a car ride away, seeing as how she's a native of Trabuco Canyon, Calif. Without her mom, who Speer referred to as her "biggest fan," there to cheer her on and support her, making the transition from the high school to the college game was trying at first.
"Coming into freshman year, it was really hard being away from home," Speer noted. "This year, it's sort of been even harder trying to readjust to everything."
Adjusting to the pressure has been one of the biggest challenges for Speer this year. Now a sophomore with her name in the all-time single-season BC record book four times for home runs (tied for fourth), RBIs (tied for fifth), slugging percentage (sixth) and on-base percentage (tied for 10th), she's seen the expectations other have for her and she has for herself skyrocket.
While Speer has greatly improved at being more "fearless" in the outfield and getting better jumps on fly balls, she got off to a rocky start at the plate and currently has a .218 batting average. She's third on the team in RBIs with 17 and has three home runs on the season.
While she said she has had trouble seeing the ball this year at the plate, she's doing everything in her power to turn things around before the end of the season. She's been spending extra time in the batting cage with her coaches and has adopted a pre-at bat ritual that helps to calm her down.
"I have this weird thing where I'll take a note card and I'll write down all the things I need to remember--to relax, to swing hard, to not think," Speer explained. "I'll look at it before I go up to bat to clear my mind and not think about the pressure."
A thoughtful and analytic person, it becomes clear in talking with her that Speer draws strength from her father, Ken, and her teammates as well as from her mother's memory. Her father is a regular at softball games. Last season, Speer estimated he came to 80 percent of her games and has become known as the team's photographer.
"He loves to take pictures," Speer said, with a laugh. "He puts them online for the team to see. I like it when he comes out because it is really far away from home here. So when he comes out here, it's a nice break for me."
Speer also pointed to her teammates, saying that this year's team is one of the closest she has ever been on. From the start of the season run tests to the team's recent rash of injuries, she said they've all been there for each other and that makes all of her individual trials easier to endure.
"We play for each other," Speer noted. "Our record (19-16) just shows that we're stronger and better and we're just going to keep getting better as the years go on. Especially for me, my teammates are the most important thing."
And, of course, there are the many memories of her mom that inspire Speer. Even though she was very sick the last few years of her life, she still went to all of her daughter's softball games. While on medication that made her lose her voice, she still managed to shout encouragements to all of the players on Speer's team.
"I remember, in high school we were playing in this really long game and she barely had any voice but she kept yelling out to my friend who was pitching," Speer said. "We were going to this stupid wing place afterwards and she kept yelling, `Get this runner out. I want to go get chicken wings,' and she had barely any voice left. She was always out there no matter what supporting me and I miss that a lot. She was my number one fan so it's really important to keep playing for her."
Written by Jen Dobias
