Alyson Marcum, a lefty pitcher and power-hitter from Bernie, Missouri, has had an amazing high school and club career already setting several state records and twice earning 1st Team All-State honors and even Academic All-State recognition.
She’s in the Missouri State High School Softball Record Book for highest batting average in a season at .750 and second all-time for highest on-base percentage at .819. The dangerous hitter also is No. 1 in walks in a season with 39 and is third in Missouri prep history with three home runs in a game.
The current senior was also an Extra Inning Softball Co-Runner Up National Player of the Week as a sophomore when she went 10-for-15 the week of April 15, 2018 and also pitched 10 innings, giving up just one hit while striking out 16.
If you’d think that Alyson would be playing softball behind her high school career, you’d be absolutely right.
Already Signed
Unlike many, however, who will be signing their National Letters of Intent (NLI’s) this week when the Signing Period kicks off Wednesday, the prodigious Missouri dual-threat has already signed hers.
That’s because she’s headed to a junior college—one of the best in the nation, in her case—and JC’s could ink their players prior to now. Alyson was able to sign her NLI on November 1 as she will head to Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Meyers, Florida once she finishes high school.
The Bucs are led by highly-successful coach Robert Iamurri, who, amazingly, has won as many Suncoast Conference Championships as he’s had conference losses with a 56-4 league mark through four seasons.
Last year Florida SouthWestern went 54-3 and was ranked No. 1 in the country in the National Junior college Athletic Association during the regular season and finished the year #3 overall.
Coach Iamurri has also produced a half dozen players who signed to play with a four-year school including three at DI programs; Alyson is hoping that she will be another of his talented players who move on to compete at a top university.
Early in her career, it certainly looked like that would be the case until her recruiting journey hit some unexpected detours.
Slowed Down by Injuries
Alyson appeared to be on a fast track to go to a big-time school when she was sidelined by Thoracic Outlet Syndrome during the summer between her freshman and sophomore years of high school.
It took nearly a year to completely recover, she explains.
“Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, in my case, meant that the space between my collar bone and my first rib was compressed causing pain and numbness down my left (throwing) arm,” Allyson begins. “I tried to hide the fact I was in so much pain during my high school season when I was a sophomore because I didn’t want to not play.”
“But since I didn’t let anyone know about my pain, I tried to adjust my pitching mechanics to try to make it less painful and, because of adjusting my mechanics, I ended up with tendinitis in my elbow, which just made things worse.”
Alyson finally told her parents about the pain when the season was completed and a visit to the doctor led to intense physical therapy and rest to rehab.
“First, I was ordered to rest for a minimum of six weeks by my doctor,” the athlete continues. “Then, when that time was up, I was allowed to hit and play first base while doing physical therapy.”
Record-Setting Sophomore & Junior Seasons
Alyson was able to pitch in the spring of her sophomore year and her prolific hitting stroke led to a huge break-out year as she hit .750 with a .819 on-base percentage and also made the Missouri state record book with a 1.447 slugging percentage (5th best all-time) and 55 RBIs (10th best).
Her three home runs on April 24, 2018 against Neelyville High is 3rd all-time as well for the Show Me State.
Unfortunately, the tendonitis she incurred from adjusting her pitching motion sidelined her to start the summer showcase season and she missed out on a lot of opportunities to play in front of major programs that likely would have been interested in her skills.
“I had some offers from smaller D1 schools, Jucos, D2 schools and NAIA schools, but I never really felt that ‘feeling’ that everyone kept telling me I would feel when I was on the right campus,” she recalls.”
“And time was running out on the bigger D1 schools, so I decided to pursue the top Juco programs so I could continue to develop and play against other top-level programs to then be able to move on from there after two years.”
Alyson followed up her huge sophomore campaign in 2019 for Bernie High with a second strong softball season.
In the circle, the lefty who throws in the low 60’s, went 14-3 as a junior with a 0.81 ERA and 192 K’s versus just 21 walks in 103.1 innings.
She was also pitched carefully to and set the state mark for walks in a season with the 39 free passes, many of them intentional walks. When she did get something to hit, Alyson batted .672 with six home runs and 42 RBIs.
Recruiting Rollercoaster
The recruiting interest increased and things were looking up. She had some offers, but fell in love with one particular university.
*** Scroll down to continue reading about Alyson’s injury recovery & recruiting journey!
