Rise Up

Coley Ries's softball career hit a crisis after seven games. The righthander at Minnesota State found out she had a stress fracture in her ulna. The options? Surgery or physical therapy. She went with therapy, and four years later it appears she made the right choice. Ries set career school records in wins (119) and strikeouts (1,481), and she was featured in FACES IN THE CROWD in May after back-to-back perfect games. Since then, she led the Mavericks to a Division II national title, on May 28, throwing two complete games in the best-of-three series while giving up two runs and striking out 25. She finished the season 41--3. Her time at Minnesota State is up, but she is hopeful her career isn't. "I'm not ready to be done," she says. "I can get better."