Inside Pitch: Softball Great Jessi Warren… “The Devastating Impact from Hurricane Ian & How You Can Help”

Extra Inning Softball correspondent Jessica Warren was a college All-American at Florida State and, in 2018, the third baseman helped the Seminoles win the NCAA D1 National Championship.

Since college, Jessi has been a professional player with the USSSA Pride and competed in Athletes Unlimited also.

Click HERE to read about Jessie’s thoughts about the Noles magical run five years ago…

In today’s “Inside Pitch,” she talks her first-hand experiences with the terrible Hurricane Ian and three ways those in the softball community can help, including aiding a former Olympian…

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As a Floridian, born and raised in Florida my whole life and—as one who lives on the water—I’m quite familiar with bad tropical storms, flooding, and hurricanes.

I wasn’t prepared, however, for what was to come with Hurricane Ian.

I’ve been alive through quiet a few hurricanes that have hit Florida, some a direct hit with others just around me.

In 2004, Florida was hit with four hurricanes within six weeks and I remember having about a month off from school because of the weather being so bad and never stopping.

1. Hurricane Charley was the first to hit and was a Category 4 hurricane that directly hit Tampa, where I was located.
2. Hurricane Francis was next; that was a Category 2 that hit the opposite side of where I lived on the east coast of the state.
3. The third was Hurricane Ivan and, although it hit hard in Alabama primarily, I remember Tampa flooding very badly.
4. The last one of the four hurricanes struck the eastern coast again, Hurricane Jeanne, a Category 3.

With all this being said, Florida is surrounded by warm water, and is very hurricane prone. I have an app called MyRadar and it has a hurricane tracker with a feature in the app that gives you outlooks on the weather in the future and predicts what type of storms are forming.

I saw the RED, which indicated a 75% or higher chance that the cone will turn into a tropical storm within the next few days, and instantly thought, “Uh oh!”

I waited a few days and sure enough my hurricane tracker feature showed a tropical storm coming that was soon be a hurricane and predicted every category the storm would turn into all the way from in-between Barbados and Santo Domingo.

It also predicted  that the hurricane was going to hit Tampa within a week at a Category 4 level.

I instantly relayed the message to my family and friends and, a few days later, it hit the news. Hurricane prepping started—including the usual: buying water, perishable foods, toilet paper, etc.

Except those in Tampa knows that hurricanes predicted to the city, on the western coast of the state, usually take a turn last minute and don’t.

There is a myth that, according to local legend, a blessing from Native Americans have protected the city and area from major storms for centuries. The legend includes many sacred burial mounds built by the Tocobagan tribe, which some believe were meant as guardians against invaders… including hurricanes.

As we are all aware, Hurricane Ian took a last-minute turn and headed south of the Tampa Bay area. At this point, Tampa had been evacuated days prior and I was in a mandatory evacuation zone living so close to the water and predictions of 15-foot storm surges, which was devastating to see happen down south.

Ian made landfall in Cayo Costa, Florida, with winds at 155 mph, just two miles per hour short of a Category 5 hurricane. The damage to that part of the state is devastating and breaks my heart tremendously.

It is so close to home, and I have family and friends that live down south that were impacted tremendously by this awful storm. Homes are lost for so many people, resources are limited due to structural damages caused by the hurricane and, tragically, over 100 lives were lost.

It’s heartbreaking and hard to sit here and think and write about. In a split second, so much was just gone.

Many may have donated to help with damages—and just to help in general—but there are a few ways you can help if you could:

1. My friend Aubree Munro-Watson (the former Florida Gator national champion & Olympic Silver Medal winner), her husband Gordon Watson, and dog Ripp have lost a lot. Thir home has major damags, equipment used for Gordon’s work is gone and Aubree’s car was totaled. Their family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with these costs. Click HERE to access it.

2. Florida State football offensive lineman Dillion Gibbons has his own non-profit called “Big Man, Big Heart.” “Big Man Big Heart, Inc. promotes “NCAA college athletes’ use of their NIL to do good and promote unity, positivity and kindness in their community and beyond.” He has put together a fundraiser to raise money to give to people in need from the devastating losses. The link is on his Instagram profile; you can access it by Clicking HERE.

3. Lastly, I have put together a raffle: I am selling $3 tickets and raffling off a game worn jersey and donating any money made to one of the two links above. If you’re interested in purchasing a raffle ticket and helping out those in need down South, my cash app: is $JessicaWarren1995 and venmo is: JessicaWarren1995.

We are praying for any and everyone that came across the path of Ian, as these times right now for those people are hard.

— Jessica Warren

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