RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
These last couple of weeks have been a roller-coaster of emotions for Jordyn Bahl, the senior pitcher from Nebraska who was announced last Friday as the #1 player in the 2021 Extra Elite 100.
Jordyn was coming off the high of leading her Papillion-La Vista High team to a remarkable accomplishment: a 36-0 season and a third straight Class A title courtesy of a three inning, 12-0 run-rule championship.
That was on Friday, October 16 and after the big win, sportswriter Steve Beideck of the Omaha World-Herald suggested that Jordyn was “the best high school player Nebraska has ever seen” and “some were left wondering if the sport in Nebraska should now be spelled softbahl.”
Less than two weeks later, on Thursday, October 29, 2020, Jordyn would get a call from Extra Inning Softball’s Brentt Eads letting her know that, for the second time in a row, she would be ranked as the top player in her talented class.
The happy accomplishment, however, was tempered by the sad news that one of Jordyn’s biggest fans, her great-grandmother Gladys Vermillion, had passed away earlier that day.
“Nothing made her happier than to watch sports,” her talented great-granddaughter recalled “and to come out to my games, sitting in the front row cheering me on. She would watch the Little League World Series and the NFL playoffs and know exactly what was going on.”
“She was a tremendous woman and as strong as they come,” added Dave Bahl, Jordyn’s father and grandson of Gladys. “Her love of God, country and family served as an example to our entire family over four generations. She had a genuine love of sports and enjoyed nothing more than to watch her grandchildren and great grandchildren compete. She will be missed by us all and will never be forgotten.”
With little time to reflect or mourn, Jordyn jumped on a plane to travel to Kansas City for the Top Gun Select Invitational in which the senior’s Beverly Bandits 18U Premier team would make it all the way to the championship game.
The Oklahoma commit was in the circle facing the other Bandits 18U team, the Bandits DeMarini – Moran team and, wouldn’t you know, Jordyn and her team would lose in the bottom of the 7th on a suicide squeeze.
Certainly, in the grand scheme of things, the loss wasn’t devastating as her team as already qualified for PGF Nationals and it was a fall event, not a summer nationals. But here is where we get insights into why more than 90 percent of the coaches–college and club–had Jordyn on their short list for the top player in the Class of 2021.
When asked if the defeat bothered her, Jordyn’s maturity and perspective shined through.
“You never like losing,” she started, “I gave up a two-run home run, but it’s nice when another team in our organization pushes us to make us better. It will be something that will fuel and motivate me.”
“As a pitcher I hate giving up the home run and I’m not going to say I wasn’t bummed, but I’m not going to sulk either. I will learn from it–like the home run ball: it was a drop ball outside that didn’t drop and I’ve learned that every pitched has to be moving. Simply, you’re not going to get away things like that so I’ll make sure next time I work to improve so the pitch will move.”
For the most part, her pitches have been moving and Jordyn has been improving. This year, the teenager from Papillion, a suburb of Omaha, captured her third high school title in her four years after she started as a freshman.
“We had 10 seniors and eight started,” she explained. “A lot of us have been there for all four years.”
The one year that her high school powerhouse didn’t win the title–and the Monarchs have 16 total championships in its storied softball history–was a painful one for Jordyn, but she credits that loss as having made her a better player–and person–in the end.
“In my sophomore year,” the pitcher/hitter All-American says, “we had been undefeated the whole year but ended up losing the state championship when we lost two in a row. It was a hard winter and I realized I just saw myself as a softball player and not much else. I learned that there was a time for me to be like, ‘This sucks,’ but that I have to be here for a bigger purpose and I then spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get way more out of life, to be more free and enjoy things.”
Jordyn says it was a progression in realizing where she fit in but a video sermon by Sadie Robertson talking about purpose really struck a chord.
“She was saying that many in our generation lack awareness of where to find meaning; she would ask, ‘Where are you looking for purpose? In social media? In your Creator? Why did He make you?’”
“It made a lot of sense and as I spent more time in the Bible I had more of a spiritual awakening.”
Today, honors and successes balance with defeats and heartache for Jordyn, who feels like she’s on the right path, on the field and off.
“Life is about learning and moving on, the talented student-athlete concludes. “We’re always working year-round to improve, working on the minor things that ultimately make big changes.”
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Here is more from Jordyn as we talked about the last year which has included her being named TWICE as the #1 player in the 2021 Extra Elite 100…