Highland High School product Garbett excels on diamond for Wabash Valley College
In 2020, the pandemic disrupted her softball season and this past spring it was an ankle injury that challenged Wabash Valley infielder Lilly Garbett.
Even with a banged-up ankle, Garbett, a 2019 Highland High School graduate, made her mark on the field for the Lady Warriors.
Garbett was solid on defense and hit a blistering .319 with eight home runs and a .511 slugging percentage in 45 games for Wabash Valley despite being hurt almost half the season.
“I feel like although I got hurt in the middle of the season, I hit well and finished the season strong,” the Lady Warriors sophomore said.
Garbett’s season started off well enough as she was hitting over .300 but it was a right ankle injury just after her 25th game that forced her to miss some time and readjust her approach to the game.
“I got hurt when I was running home on what I thought was a close play at home and where we played at they had a new (home) plate and it was slick and there were girls kind of tripping on it but I wasn’t thinking about that, I was just thinking about scoring and my ankle gave out and I heard a pop and after that, I just knew something was wrong, Garbett said.
“Nothing was broken but it was a really bad sprain and I ended up in a boot for a week or two and then I was able to brace and wrap it after that.”
Garbett missed about 20 games with the ankle injury but she said that the time off the field really allowed her to learn a lot more about the game and how to compete as a good teammate even when not playing every day.
“When I was not playing and, on the bench, I actually learned that my role was to be on top of cheering, taking charge of the (score) book, and I learned that everyone else is just as important to (the success) of the team,” Garbett said.
Helping lead Lady Warriors Final Four
When Garbett’s ankle got back to roughly 80% strength, she came back and played in the Lady Warriors’ last six games of the 2021 season.
“After I missed a few games, they would put me in at random times for opportunities and I’m really grateful for that,” Garbett said. “The last two games I got to play this season hitting-wise I went 5 for 6 with a home run so it ended on a good note. I just wish it could have been the whole season.”
Garbett also helped the Lady Warriors overcome a slow start and finish the season with a 46-19 record that propelled Wabash Valley all the way into the NJCAA Final Four.
“Overall, it was a great season for the team as we got ranked 20th in the country and we started off in the fall playing all the top teams in Central Florida and didn’t win any games but we learned a lot and then after that, we really came together as a team and ended up in the final four,” Garbett said. It was really good.”
HHS grad ready to fully rehab ankle
Now Garbett is focusing on getting her ankle completely rehabbed the rest of the summers as she prepares to head back to Wabash Valley for her second sophomore season. Due to the pandemic forced shortening of the 2020 season, Garbett and other players from the 2019 freshman class were given an extra year of eligibility and she is looking forward to using it this fall and spring.
“Due to COVID, we get a third year at Wabash, some and a lot of the players are going to come back for the third year and yeah, I’m excited,” Garbett said.