Sam Guercia is a 2023 third baseman playing for Keith Rabitsch’s Lady Dukes National team and last weekend competed in the Colorado Sparkler tournament
Ranked in the Top 200 Infielders in her class, Sam had to deal with an unspeakable tragedy less than a month before but someone showed amazing courage and strength to rejoin her teammates and take the field.
Here is what happened in the words of Keith Rabitsch and we ask that you, the wonderful members of the softball community that we’re all part of, keep Sam and her family in your thoughts and prayers…
*****
It was late in the afternoon on Saturday, June 12th and our team had just finished up our last bracket game of the day when I spotted one of my players, Sam Guercia, leaving the parking lot.
I stopped her and her family before they drove off to simply congratulate Sam on the great tournament she was having because only moments earlier she had a key two-out hit knocking in three runs.
That hit proved to be the winning margin against the Carolina Cardinals National 16U team and, true to form, Sam was all smiles as she headed home.
Later that evening, things changed in an instant for Sam and her family because they received the news that no one wants to hear: Sam’s brother Alex (age 17) had lost control of his vehicle and was killed in a single car accident on his way home later that night.
Alex had just graduated from Harrison (Kennesaw, Georgia) High where he was a member of the swim team and was only days away from his 18th birthday.
Much like Sam, Alex had a smile that could light up the room and, as you can imagine, the last couple of weeks have been exceedingly tough on Sam and her family.
Here is a GoFundMe created to “help out loved ones with any medical, funeral or other expenses that may arise.”
After some discussions Sam decided to make the effort to rejoin her teammates in Colorado this past week for the Sparklers event.
If nothing else, her family thought that just sitting in the dugout and being around her teammates might help keep her mind off of things for a bit. Equally her teammates missed Sam and wanted to do anything they could to support her.
When Sam took the field for the first time after Alex’s passing, she did so with a heavy heart but with a smile.
As her coach, I honestly wasn’t sure if she’d even make it out of the first inning, but after the game her parents and I discussed just how proud we all were of Sam for making it through the entire game.
I’m sure it wasn’t always easy for Sam, but she continued to show up for each game and push through.
When the dust settled her stat line read as follows:
- played 100 percent of the innings for our team at third base
- clean defense in 45-plus innings including turning two double plays
- offensively, she hit safely in all but one of our games
- batted over .400 on the week with multiple extra base hits, two home runs including a game-winning home run in ITB of an elimination game
But most importantly, she was able to find some smiles and laughs on the week with her teammates.
Alex will never be forgotten, but softball was in a small way an opportunity for Sam to proceed through the unimaginably painful situation and know that she had her family—including the one in the Lady Dukes dugout and throughout the softball community—supporting her with unconditional love.
— Keith Rabitsch, Head Coach, Lady Dukes
