The thing she remembers most about that phone call is how badly her hands were shaking. She says her body was convulsing, too, and that her words were barely comprehensible.
One day earlier, Taran Alvelo — Ohio’s all-time wins and strikeouts leader — had pitched her high-school softball team into the state-championship game. Now she was telling Washington coach Heather Tarr she had just been cited for shoplifting.
At that moment, Alvelo was convinced her UW scholarship had gone kaput. She figured her longtime dream of pitching for the Huskies would remain a fantasy.
But just as Alvelo was tearfully expressing her worst fears, Tarr chimed in with the most reassuring words she could find.