They have a saying around the Virginia softball program. We don’t move on, we move forward.
When sophomore Jade Hylton entered the office of head coach Joanna Hardin just over a week ago, she delivered a heartwarming and beautiful expression of moving forward.
Friday on the Virginia softball schedule is reserved for “Fun Friday” which is centered around conditioning designed by the strength and conditioning staff or the UVA coaches.
But it took on a much greater significance on that day.
September 9, 2023, was a memorable, and profound, day in Virginia athletics as the Cavaliers played their first home football game since a tragedy last November that took the lives of UVA football players D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr.
The University, and the athletic department, planned a tribute to the three players prior to kickoff in recognition of their contributions to the community, the university and the football program.
Ahead of this weekend's UVA Strong game, we honored the lives of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr and De'Sean Perry with a memorial run.
We will never forget. We are #UVAStrong
1.15.41 pic.twitter.com/11KwUYxeTh
— Virginia Softball (@UVASoftball) September 8, 2023
Hylton and her Cavalier teammates delivered their own tribute on that Friday with a memorial run on campus dedicated in remembrance of Perry, Chandler and Davis Jr.
“Jade coming to me on that Thursday was really special,” said Hardin. “Her wanting to do something for a cause and for a purpose and with meaning, as someone who experienced that as a freshman was very authentic and heartfelt.
“It takes courage to walk in the office and say, hey, I know you have this plan for conditioning, but can we change it and do something else? I was proud of her for just doing that. It was a proud and gratifying moment for me as a coach. I love this team and they get it.”
Included in the run was a stop in front of Scott Stadium, which serves as the home of the UVA football team. Players took turns sharing their remembrances of the three players and their emotions from that time.
“We stopped right in front of the top of the stadium and the upperclassmen that were here last year talked about each of them,” said Hylton. “Some of them were friends with Lavel and D’Sean and Devin and they shared their memories and also different experiences from the situation.”
Moving forward.
*****
Virginia head coach Joanna Hardin knew she was faced with a near impossible task.
She stood in front of her 25 players the day after the tragedy that took the lives of D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr. searching for words that no one should ever have to find.
She wasn’t a softball coach on that day. She was a mother, a protector and a supporter.
“I knew that there was nothing I could say that would make anybody feel better. There was nothing I could say that could change the outcome. There was nothing I could say that would soften any of the trauma that they’d experienced. And my goal was to try to meet everybody where they’re at.
“There were a lot of tears and a lot of just being quiet. I told them I don’t know how to take it all in, but we’re here for you. As a leader, you go into survival mode a little bit and try to figure out what they need. Our softball leadership group was amazing at being honest and saying this is what the team needs right now. And I think that was helpful in making decisions about what was best.”
And, whether she realized it at that time or not, what she delivered to her team on that day was a path forward.
Hardin, and her staff, continued to provide that path throughout the 2023 season.
“When the team came back in January they were at full strength. We were in great shape and great condition. I don’t think it really hit us until our first home game. There was a memorial reading prior to the start of the game and that brought it back to us.
“The conversation was this is where we get to play for something way bigger than us. Those boys don’t get to finish the legacy of their career, so how we take the field and how we represent our university and our athletic department is how we honor them.”
And playing for something bigger than themselves was how the Cavaliers competed throughout the season.
“We really galvanized around saying we can honor these boys by how we wear the uniform and how we play our game. I think it hit us all at different moments and different times, but they did a great job of competing and representing the university.”
With the idea of playing for something bigger than the game as a centerpiece of the season, the Cavaliers recorded their first 30-win season since 2010.
Moving forward.
*****
The path forward for Jade Hylton began the day after the tragedy when she attended the vigil held on campus for D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr.
“I felt numb, and I couldn’t really process it that soon. You had thousands of people out there in support and looking up on the stage seeing all the football players just weeping. It was really sad.”
But Hylton felt empowered to honor those lives during the 2023 season with her play on the softball diamond.
And what a season it was for the freshman.
Hylton earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honors, was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman team and earned a TUCCI/NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 25 selection.
She finished the season hitting .314 and led the team in runs scored (33) and RBIs (26) and tied for the team lead in home runs (10) and stolen bases (22).
Her 22 stolen bases ranked third in the ACC and she topped UVA with 15 multiple-hit games.
For good measure, she was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll.
“Jade is a coach’s dream. She’s competitive, talented and coachable,” Hardin said of the infielder. “She plays the game really hard, but she cares a great deal about her teammates and is extremely humble. When your best players are your hardest workers, and your most coachable kids that play the game hard, I think it has such a huge impact on everybody else.”
But Hylton wanted to do more. And when she learned how the university was planning to honor the players prior to the first home football game she saw an opportunity for the softball program to do the same.
“I felt that was a small way we could honor them. A way to say they will never be forgotten, and we are going to honor them in the best way we can. They’re never coming back, but it was a way we could positively honor them and respect how special they were as people.
“We talked about them, and my teammates that were friends with them talked about what amazing people they were. We wanted to remember them in a positive way and keep them in our hearts.”
Hylton, and her teammates, were in the stands at the football game on September 9 and it created more lasting memories.
“At the beginning of the game they did a really cool video honoring the three boys and honestly it was a tearjerker. Then they had three people parachute into the stadium and they had flags with the players numbers on them and one flag with UVA Strong. It was just a really special way to honor them.”
And, as a mother, Hardin paid the ultimate compliment to Hylton.
“I love it when my daughter plays with Jade, and I see the way she talks about Jade and wants to be around her. I love all our players, but Jade is the one that I say if I can raise my daughter to be like her, I’d be really proud. She’s just that type of person and happens to be a great softball player too.”
Moving forward.
*****
Athletics has the ability to heal. It brings together families and communities and unites for a greater purpose.
Following the tragedy, signs started popping up around the Virginia campus, the city of Charlottesville and the state of Virginia.
UVA Strong.
It quickly spread across the country, and everyone became Cavaliers. Atlantic Coast Conference members offered support as did schools from all reaches of the United States.
Competition is reserved for the playing field. When loss strikes, it’s a shared experience of grieving and the entire country wrapped their collective arms around the University of Virginia.
The Cavalier softball program represents UVA Strong.
“It’s resilience and strength in the face of adversity. And it’s a collective, united, galvanizing mission to honor the lives of Lavel and D’Sean and Devin,” said Hardin. “And you do that every day by how we treat each other, how we play the game, how we compete, how we go to class.
“It’s doing right by their families as well. It’s a bigger mission than just winning softball games because life is precious and that’s what it means for us. It’s our resilience in the face of extreme adversity and a unified mission to compete and to live for something bigger than ourselves.”
Hylton felt the outpouring of support from the community and highlighted what UVA Strong truly means.
“UVA strong for me is how the community responded and how we all came together to deal with this tragedy and how we’re all here to support each other,” said Hylton. “We all share that one thing in common, and then we build back together.”
Moving forward.
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