FOXBURG — Baylee Blauser sprinted to back up third base during an A-C Valley softball game at Cranberry in mid-May.

The next thing she knew she was face down on the outfield grass.

The junior pitcher had stepped into a divot and twisted her left ankle. It was already throbbing and swelling.

Blauser already knew it was not a normal sprain, even though at the time she didn't even want to acknowledge what had just happened.

“I was trying to keep an open mind about it,” Blauser said. “I was just like, 'It's OK. I'll be OK.'”

She wasn't.

The injury was bad enough, but what it meant going forward for the three-sport star at A-C Valley was infinitely more devastating.

Blauser, a junior, was just days away from competing in the District 9 track and field championship meet. She had an excellent shot there to win a long jump gold and earn a spot at the PIAA Track and Field Championships where she would have been the top seed in Class 2A.

To make matters worse, Blauser suffered the injury in the last softball game she was going to play this spring.

“My dad even said, 'Baylee, I don't think you should go to this game,'” Blauser said. “Something could happen.'”

She played anyway.

Blauser was carried off the softball field that day. She was too worried to put weight on the ankle — in too much pain and in too much shock to walk.

“I just felt something weird,” Blauser said. “I kept thinking, 'Oh my gosh. This is not good.'”

Blauser had a severe sprain. Her doctor said under normal circumstances, she'd instruct her to not even put weight on her left leg for several weeks.

But her doctor knew how important the upcoming track meets were to Blauser and said she could compete anyway.

“As long as I followed her rules,” Blauser said.

She did follow them, but could quickly tell she was not going to be the same jumper she was during her record-setting season.

Blauser had finally claimed the long jump record at the school all for herself after finishing tied with her coach, Shanna (Klinger) Tharan, at 17 feet, 1 inch at the state track meet in 2019 as a freshman.

She jumped 18-3½ at the beginning of May — good enough for third all-time in Butler County history — and had the top distance in the state in Class 2A.

Blauser said before the ankle injury she was putting it all together and feeling the best she had ever felt in the event.

“That got me angry,” Blauser said. “I was feeling good and then I got hurt. I couldn't even bring myself to talk about it without getting a little upset. I was working so hard. I worked so hard through COVID and I really wanted to perform well this year and I was and it was just so hard to accept what had happened. It just aggravates me.”

Blauser tried to plow through.

She tried to ignore the pain and the discomfort.

“After the injury in practice I felt like I just couldn't get the speed,” Blauser said. “I was telling myself to just forget the ankle was sprained because if I did that I would run faster. But, you know, it's always in the back of your mind. Like, 'Oh my gosh. What if I land wrong?'”

At districts, Blauser still qualified for the state meet, competing on an ankle that was bruised, swollen and sore.

She did everything she could to treat the ankle, but it wasn't enough.

She was too hobbled.

Blauser still had high hopes for the PIAA championships.

She had a week to prepare and another week for the ankle to heal.

Midway through the week, though, her ankle was sore and stiff. She knew she wasn't going to have the state meet she was hoping for. In Shippensburg she finished a disappointing 10th in the long jump.

Still, Blauser was proud of the year she had, despite how it ended.

So was Tharan.

“Her ankle injury definitely prevented her from doing her best at both districts and states, both mentally and physically,” Tharan said. “As long as she stays injury-free (next year), she'll definitely keep breaking her own record in the long jump, break the triple jump record and has a great chance being a top medalist her senior year at districts and states.”

Blauser is already determined to do just that.

When she is cleared to resume full activity on her ankle, which is still healing, Blauser plans on starting her preparation for next spring.

“You know what, this happened for a reason,” Blauser said. “Everything happens for a reason. I just have to work even harder for next year. I need to work harder than I did during COVID. I'm dead set on making sure that I'm 100% ready at the beginning of next track season.”