Erin Gabriel reflects on career as it comes to an end

June 16, 2016 at 12:09a.m.

Erin Gabriel reflects on her career as it comes to an end

Initially when it ended for Erin Gabriel — a 4-3 Tennessee loss to Arizona in a NCAA softball regional on May 22 — the reality that her Volunteers career was over hit the 2012 Poland graduate hard.

“I woke up the next morning and had a pit in my stomach,” said Gabriel, Tennessee’s ace pitcher. “I honestly could not stop crying because it was just all over. I put so much into softball — that was my life for so long.”

But after the initial shock, the three-time ESPN High School All-American for the Bulldogs who ended her 2016 senior season at Tennessee with a 21-7 record (2.36 ERA) put things into perspective.

“I just look back on everything that I’ve accomplished and the people I’ve met and the kids I’ve been able to inspire — I can’t be upset about this,” said Gabriel, who ended her college career with a 48-19 record and a 2.76 ERA. “I’ve been able to do amazing things and meet amazing people. So it’s something to smile about, not be upset about.”

Even after that final loss, there was a slight chance Gabriel’s UT career would continue.

She applied for a medical redshirt since she suffered a labral tear on her left hip early during her freshman campaign. It ended her 2013 season after just nine games and limited her to just 13 starts in 2014.

However, Gabriel was informed by the NCAA on Friday that her application was denied.

“It’s really disappointing,” she said. “I feel I was kind of cheated out of two years with everything that had to happen with that process. So I was really hoping to get one of those years back.

“But now I look back on everything — I think back to when I was six-years-old playing at Dobbins Field [in Poland] — and just how much the sport has taught me and the people along the way that have helped me.”

Now, Gabriel wants to give back.

She graduated in May with her undergraduate degree in nutrition and aims to get into the physical therapy field to “help others go through what I did.” To qualify for physical therapy school, she needs three more classes (she’s taking one right now, while she’ll take the final two at Youngstown State in the fall).

“That’s a three-year doctorate program,” said Gabriel, who also does some pitching-instruction for girls in the area. “So that’ll be a big chunk of my life.”

Not that putting her playing days in the past is going to be easy.

“I’m a huge a competitor, so that’s what I’m gonna miss the most,” she said. “Just being so wrapped up in a game that nothing else matters. There’s no place I’d rather be than on that pitching mound, competing with my teammates.”

It’s what Gabriel excelled at.

At Poland, she led the Bulldogs to a 2011 state championship victory and was named the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year in both 2010 and 2011. Meanwhile, she was also a member of the USA Junior women’s national team in 2010 and 2011 — the only high-schooler on the 2011 squad that won the ISF Junior Women’s World Championship in South Africa.

Gabriel then entered Tennessee, where she was given the obstacle of the hip-injury (it occurred after throwing a pitch in an extra bullpen session in April 2013). While she was 5-1 with a 2.66 ERA before she was sidelined, she bounced back to go 5-0 (3.24 ERA) in 24 appearances (13 starts) as a sophomore.

Then, making a complete transition (due to the injury) from a power to more-finesse pitcher, Gabriel went 38-15 over the next two years. She no-hit Illinois State and notched a perfect-game vs. Eastern Tennessee State as a junior, while she tossed another perfect game this past season against Jacksonville on March 22.

Going 17-9 as a junior, she helped lead UT to the 2015 SEC Tournament championship game (an extra-inning loss to Auburn) as she was named to the SEC All-Tournament team. She also picked up two NCAA Regional wins that season.

Still, she called her senior campaign — in which she earned two more NCAA Regional wins and was named SEC Pitcher of the Week twice — her best.

“It’s the first season I didn’t have to have a cortisone shot to play, the first season that I could throw back-to-back days without pain and also that I didn’t have a pitch-count,” Gabriel said. “I went through a lot having to change my motion and the pitcher that I was — from being a speed/power pitcher to a spin/location pitcher.

“To be able to work on that and be pain-free, it was the best feeling in the world. Mentally, it was all clear for me. I could just compete and not worry about my hip at all.”

Since she is fully-healthy, professional softball is a possibility for Gabriel.

Although due to her medical redshirt application she had to withdraw from April’s National Pro Fastpitch draft — the NPF is a six-team league and the only pro women’s softball league in the United States — she said teams have reached out to her as a free agent.

Still, Gabriel called it only “an option” for the moment.

Maybe it’s because her recently-finished Tennessee career — filled with special moments like this one — is still fresh on her mind.

“Senior Night was really emotional for me,” Gabriel said. “To look at all the other girls that made it four years through this program and think of all the memories that we shared together.

“And then just to see my parents out there on the field with me — that’s one of the moments I will treasure for the rest of my life. It made me realize that it was coming to an end and made me think about everything I accomplished throughout the years.”

And that’s a whole lot to think about.