Taylor Murphy’s softball career won’t be ending anytime soon.
The Turners Falls High School senior signed her National Letter of Intent this week to play at American International College in Springfield next year. The Yellow Jackets are a Division II program that compete in the Northeast-10 Conference.
Murphy will be following in her mother Carrie’s footsteps, as she also attended Turners Falls and played under coach Gary Mullins before heading off to compete at AIC.
“As I got older I wanted to play in college,” Murphy said. “When I was younger, I didn’t know if I wanted to play a sport in college but once I started with [Turners] coach [Gary] Mullins and playing at a higher age level, I knew I wanted to keep playing when I got to college. It didn’t matter what college I went to, I wanted to play softball. Being able to play at AIC, where my mom played, is even better.”
While the Thunder didn’t have a softball season in 2020 due to COVID-19, Murphy played a key role in leading Turners to a Western Mass. Division III championship in 2019.
Not having a junior season was stressful for an aspiring collegiate athlete like Murphy. Junior year is perhaps the most important for recruiting purposes.
Luckily for Murphy, she also plays for the Western Mass. Warriors, which played in games and tournaments over the summer. That allowed schools like AIC to get a look at her and see the improvements she had made as a player.
“AIC fell into my lap,” Murphy explained. “I didn’t have a junior season which took away a lot of opportunities for a lot of players in a bunch of sports. I got to play travel softball in Connecticut this summer and they had a video camera there that played the games live so college coaches could watch. Then it was a lot of email and voice calls with the coaches. I definitely was a little nervous about not having the junior season because that is the time they look. I was fortunate to play this summer. It was the best possible deal out of everything.”
Murphy had interest from multiple schools, but said she had her eyes set on playing for the Yellow Jackets for as long as she can remember. Getting to play at the same school as her mom, along with the familiarity of growing up going to games at AIC definitely helped her decision to sign there.
“Ever since I was little, I always liked AIC because my mom was there,” Murphy said. “It’s so cool to have the option to go there. I got the opportunity and jumped on it and decided to go there. I was talking to a few other schools, but once AIC had interest and I talked to the coach, I told them I liked the program and school and after that AIC was the only school I wanted to go to.”
The wait to find out if she got into the school was draining, and Murphy said she constantly checked her email and the mail for an acceptance letter.
She found out through a voicemail that she was indeed accepted, and couldn’t wait to share the great news.
“My mom was over the moon excited,” Murphy said. “She kept asking me if the email came. She definitely would be excited wherever I went but that hit close to home for her. Once I got a voicemail before the mail came saying I got in, I listened to it and was so happy. I texted coach Mullins and I called my mom and she told me she just couldn’t stop smiling.”
Murphy is the fourth player to go through Mullins’ program who will play for the Yellow Jackets.
Mullins said Murphy, a versatile second baseman, has the ability to play multiple positions and that will make her a great fit with her college program.
“Her and her mom are both excellent players and have great attitudes,” Mullins said. “I think Taylor can do it all on both sides of the ball. She plays second for us but can play all over the infield for AIC. She can play a lot of different positions. She even did some pitching for us. She’s a very good player because she can do it all. She’ll be a nice pickup for them.”
Looking to major in nursing, Murphy found the fit at AIC to be perfect as many girls on the softball team will share her major, making studying and preparing for the academic portion much easier.
While playing at the same school as her mom was a part of Murphy’s decision, Yellow Jackets coach Shalise Tolentino also had a big role in getting her to Springfield.
“The coach had great energy,” Murphy said. “She was funny, she had a lot of spunk and was really nice as well. She sold the school and the program and one of my friends’ cousins [Ariana Martel] is on the team. I talked to her and all the girls and they seem great.”
After Tolentino saw Murphy play at a clinic in Connecticut this summer, one that featured 15 college coaches and 150 players, she had Murphy in to take a tour of the school. She was already familiar with the softball aspect of AIC, but wanted to see the dorms and classrooms before making her decision.
“A few weeks after the clinic I went on a tour with my mom, step dad… the softball coach and the AIC field hockey coach was there as well,” Murphy said. “They brought me around campus and took me into some buildings. We couldn’t go into everything because of COVID, unfortunately. I hadn’t seen the school part of campus before but the dining hall was great and I could tell they had a really cool sports section of campus.”
Going to a new school can be intimidating, but it’s easier when you know someone in the same spot as you. That’s the case for Murphy, as Frontier’s Macy Ring also committed to AIC this week. The two are hoping to meet up and begin playing together as soon as possible.
“We’re pretty good acquaintances,” Murphy said. “She goes to Frontier so we’ve played against each other. We’re trying to plan ways to work out together, see if we can get the AIC softball workout if they do anything specific and do them together so when we get there we’ll be ready and prepared.”