Knee surgeries in any sport are difficult to recover from. Many lose faith and shut down their careers after the second or third occurrence. Coming back from five is almost unheard of.
But senior outfielder Bethaney Wells, plagued with injuries in her collegiate career, is the exception.
During her time with the softball program, Wells has undergone five knee surgeries, including two the summer of her redshirt junior year to remove cartilage the size of a fingernail from her hamstring.
Wells suffered her initial injury — a dislocated kneecap — at the end of her freshman season, when she caught her cleats in the lining of the fence at Dail Softball Stadium during practice.
The ligaments were stretched and the cartilage was torn, she said, but there was never a complete tear of any ligaments.
“Some people would call me stupid,” Wells said. “We have probably bought four yachts for our surgeons.”
In her sophomore season, Wells was forced to redshirt to recover from her two offseason surgeries. Wells, who refers to herself as a “computer geek,” was originally a computer engineering major, which prompted former head coach Lisa Navas to ask her to tape the team while she was recovering.
“I used to do the whole computer thing — I’m kind of a nerd,” Wells said. “When most kids redshirt they just hang out. They come to practice, do what they can, and during games they just hang out.”
Wells used to program and build computers, she said.
Chipper Jones, former third baseman for the Atlanta Braves and Wells’ favorite ball player, sparked her interest and inspired her toward competitive softball. According to Wells, she decided she would “be like Chipper Jones” when she played recreational softball as a kid.
Wells is coming off her most productive season with the team, starting 53 of the team’s 54 games and finishing with a .293 batting average. She led the team with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs.
The team’s overall record in Wells’ first four seasons was 100-106, a mark that influenced Navas’ dismissal following the 2012 season.
“If we’ve had a winning season while I’ve been here, it’s been by one or two games over .500 but nothing spectacular,” Wells said. “We’ve had some cool wins, but we’ve had some ugly losses too.
“I’ve had individual success, but we’ve never had team success.”
The Wolfpack started the 2013 season strong under new head coach Shawn Rychcik. But eight straight losses have left the Pack at 11-13-1.
Wells said that following her redshirt senior season, she plans on looking into the volunteer assistant position available on the team.
“I don’t want to leave,” she said. “I know how awesome it is here now and it’s just something special to be a part of.”
Despite the trials and tribulations of her time with the softball program, Wells believes it could all be worth it — she just wants to win, and believes this team has the ability.
“We know what our expectations are and just get after it,” Wells said. “I think we have the team to go to regionals, and I definitely think we have the team to compete for an ACC title.
“That would mean the world to me. It would make it all worth it.”
