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This, simply, is why I love softball so much: the game is wonderful, but the people make it fantastic.
On Wednesday, Cal State Fullerton’s softball program released on social media the following request for one of its players, Taylor Dockins.
On behalf of Taylor Dockins, we’d like to ask for you to all send your best wishes, prayers, good vibes her way at this time! #TaylorStrong #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/L9bXYjbKHv
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) March 3, 2021
On a personal note, I have covered Taylor and known her family back to when she was a record-setting pitcher for Norco (California) High and a star player for the So Cal Choppers (see the article below for more background).
Taylor’s parents, Rick and Debi, became friends of mine off the field as I covered her journey throughout the years.
When I saw the concerning Twitter message this week, I reached out to Debi to see what was the latest… with her permission, here is what she wrote me:
Taylor has a new infection and we’re waiting for cultures to come back. The doctor has her on many meds to cover the different infections.
She also has a blood clot in her main portal vein. Doctors are concerned as to why but have her on blood thinner shots and are watching her very close. Procedures are coming. Her blood is running very fast through her portal vein and is sludging in her spleen causing it to be enlarged.
Her liver is still enlarged but stable so the doctor didn’t admit her because her numbers are trending down. We have to get the liver and spleen down along with her LFT’s or this can result in liver failure.
She has an endoscopy soon to be scheduled. Her cancer is stable and we need to get those numbers down to restart chemo. Taylor looks great, though she is extremely tired, has low stamina and pain but each day I see it getting better.
She TRULY is a fighter and through all this laughs and stays so positive. (Head Coach) Kelly (Ford)is a GODSEND and rallies for Taylor with so many prayers, love and support.
We are humbly blessed by her and the entire CSUF staff. Fram and Julie Virjee have been right by Taylor’s side as well as Jim Donovan, Meredith Basil, Mike Perez and Erin Mena. Complete true family support by them.
God is so good, we live one day at a time and that day is a blessing. Having Our faith is what gets us through. The outpouring love, prayers and support through our softball world, friends and family is overwhelming. Our hearts are full of love for all and we know it keeps us in the right focus and gives us hope.
She needs softball and her sisters right now. We need as many Prayer Warriors to #Pray4Tay.
— Debi Dean Dockins (Taylor’s mother)
As the news was spreading over the last few days about Taylor’s set-back, a wonderful thing started to happen.
The Titans’ softball program went onto social media to get a movement going around the topic of:
“What does #TaylorStrong mean to you?”
The message was presented by current Fullteron player Irie Siofele :
What does #TaylorStrong mean to you? pic.twitter.com/Lr8ePT3Eif
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) March 3, 2021
The response from the softball world has been, not surprisingly, impressive and touching. Here are some samples of the responses from across the nation:
#TaylorStrong at the Rhoads House! We are all praying for Taylor. #RollTaylor pic.twitter.com/0K7pcbpQxx
— Patrick Murphy (@UACoachMurphy) March 4, 2021
Sending our best wishes and prayers to you, Taylor. We know you’re a fighter and the Oregon Softball family will be there to support you every step of the way. #TaylorStrong #PrayForTay https://t.co/oG9K8UJF5n pic.twitter.com/RqEnGZzRoD
— Oregon Softball (@OregonSB) March 5, 2021
#TaylorStrong
The Matadors family is keeping you in our hearts Taylor! @16tmoney @Fullerton_SB 💚 pic.twitter.com/eAbgJjX3Cz— CSUN Softball (@CSUNSoftball) March 5, 2021
Sending good vibes your way Taylor Dockins! 🙏🏽💚 #TaylorStrong https://t.co/6SaWzIop6V
— Iowa State Softball (@CycloneSB) March 4, 2021
Arizona sends ALL of its love your way, @16tmoney! We are all #TaylorStrong 💚 https://t.co/jPGZuJT9gA
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) March 5, 2021
So what does #TaylorStrong mean to me?
Taylor, simply, represents everything good about softball, people and life in general. She is a light in what can be a dark and dreary world at times. She is eternally positive and forever battling with a smile, be it in the circle or in one of her many medical procedures.
As good as she is as a softball player—and she won everything from Gatorade National Player of the Year to PGF All-American honors—she is ten times that as a person. The best compliment I can ever give someone, and I have given it to Taylor, is I would want my daughters to grow up to be just like her in every way.
I encourage everyone to keep this wonderful young athlete in your thoughts and prayers… she certainly deserves all the positive energy we can send her way.
Stay strong, Taylor… and keep on the road back to full health and recovery.
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
*****
How loved is Taylor? It starts at home and her Titans coaches and teammates have long showed what Taylor means to them…
Video: Cal State Fullerton Softball Team Supports Pitcher Taylor Dockins Prior to Chemo Treatment
Originally published May 7, 2020 on Extra Inning Softball
Someday, Taylor Dockins‘ life will be a major studio film and I will be one of the first in line to buy a ticket.
I’ve already had a front row seat to her incredible softball life that has included her setting records as a pitcher and hitter for Norco (California) High, including her 108 career wins being the most in CIF-Southern Section history, and Taylor winning the Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year in 2016-2017.
Taylor would go on to play in the 2017 PGF All-American Game televised on ESPN and in her first season pitching for Cal State Fullerton in 2018 she threw a no-hitter. She would go 7-4 as a freshman and 6-5 as a sophomore in 2019 while pitching in NCAA Regional games both years.
But that’s not the story.
Taylor was in Colorado playing for her So Cal Choppers team in the summer of 2016 when excruciating pain in her back and stomach became so intense that she had to be rushed to the hospital. There she was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer that ultimately led to the removal of a softball-sized mass on her liver.
Over the last four years, Taylor has endured frequent rounds of debilitating chemo treatments and continual doctor visits, but despite all of this—from her senior in high school to her first two years playing for the Titans—Taylor has succeeded despite the physical and emotional drain on her having to battle this insidious disease. She missed the truncated 2020 season, what would have been her junior year, because of ongoing chemo treatments.
On Monday of this week (May 4), Taylor had another chemo treatment but got a great sendoff the day before as the Titans softball team surprised the pitcher by driving by her So Cal home en masse (I counted 15 vehicles) honking horns, holding up signs of support and shouting phrases of encouragement and love while honoring the “social distancing” restrictions necessary in our strange spring of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the video below, you’ll see Taylor in the driveway with her father Rick videotaping behind and her mom Debi on the sidewalk soaking in the visit from the Titans’ team. It’s evident the love that her teammates and friends have for her and her father put the video on his Facebook page and posted the following that night:
“This was so much needed for our girl as she goes in for her chemo treatment tomorrow. We love our entire CSUF SOFTBALL TEAM and we are truly blessed to have you all in our life forever. I can’t even express in words how much she needed this since she has been really struggling this past week with back pain and continuous itching from the past treatment.”
Having known the Dockins family for years, I reached out to Rick and got his permission to share the video and asked how the surprise team vehicular visits came to be.
“T was just getting ready for her treatment on Monday and since she has been on quarantine since March 10, (Titans Head Coach) Kelly (Ford) thought it would be a great boost for her. Coach Ford reached out to my wife on Friday and told her the plan. T was totally shocked and I think even got a little emotional. She is feeling pretty good this week so far, thank God.”
Rick added that even with the grueling medical treatments, Taylor is working hard to stay in shape to hopefully soon get back on the dirt.
“She has three different chemos administered every other week,” he said. “She does still try to get out and run a couple miles every other day to keep her body strong.”
Softball successes and medical trails, though, don’t define who Taylor is. Her faith in God and her ever-positive outlook on life is inspiring, as is the way she makes others feel in her presence. She loves people and they love her. She’s a bright light in what can be dark times and, as I can personally attest, she just makes you feel better by being around her, despite all the hellacious pain and discomfort she must surely be enduring.
When Taylor received the trophy for the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Jennie Finch presented it to her (see the fun video below) and the softball legend nailed it when she said upon meeting Taylor that she could sense the young athlete is “full of love” and yet is “humble.”
Her Norco High coaches and teammates came out to celebrate with her then, just as her Titans teammates drove out to support her prior to her latest medical treatment this week. Simply, “T” is loved and everyone around her is doing a great job of making sure she knows that.
And THAT will be the theme of the story in the Hollywood movie I can’t wait to see.
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
*****
For more on Taylor’s amazing and inspirational journey on and off the softball fields, check out these other videos: