KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Lyrik Reed sat in the exam room, her right hand cupped in her left, and sobbed.

She had feared the news she had just received. In a way, prepared for it. That didn’t make hearing it any easier.

(Pictured above, Karns City sophomore Lyrik Reed stands in the box for her travel team, Pittsburgh Power/submitted photo)

In the summer before her freshman year at Karns City, Reed was in the batter’s box with her Pittsburgh Power travel team when she was hit on the right thumb by a pitch.

Reed tried to shake it off, but couldn’t.

Initially, she was diagnosed with a sprain. Months and seasons passed, but the pain in her thumb only grew worse.

Reed relented and had the thumb examined again shortly before her softball season with the Gremlins last spring.

She received the news she had been dreading.

A ligament in her thumb was torn. Surgery was needed to repair it.

With her grandmother by her side, Reed broke down in tears.

“Totally heartbreaking,” Reed said. “When I found out I was going to miss the whole season, I cried to my grandma and surgeon in the room.

“It would take almost four months to be all healed and ready to go,” Reed added. “I got told that they didn’t know if my thumb would need pins or not. If I needed pins, the chance for me getting back to softball was slim.”

Unable to play, Reed was determined to still be a part of the Karns City team.

She was in the dugout every game. She cheered on her teammates. Chased down foul balls. Did everything she could to stay close to the game.

All the while, Reed hoped she could return to the field as a sophomore without losing the contact, pop, and defensive skills all over the diamond that made her such a promising player.

Reed is feeling at ease now. She has returned.

With a vengeance.

On Thursday in a wild 15-14 win over Redbank Valley, Reed went 5 for 6 with a double and three runs scored.

Early in the season, Reed is showing no ill-effects from the long ordeal of the thumb injury, batting .615 with two doubles and six runs scored for the Gremlins.

It’s a welcome stat line after the struggles she had this summer with Pittsburgh Power. Shaking off all that rust proved to be troublesome for the young star.

“It took a lot of time to get my hitting back and my fielding,” Reed said. “I had a lot of errors, but it only made me stronger mentally as well.”

Karns City assistant softball coach Mike Graziolli was a constant source of encouragement throughout Reed’s struggles.

“He told me he’d never give up on me,” Reed said. “That really helped me.”

Reed is having fun on the field again.

Also a standout soccer player for Karns City — she helped the Gremlins win another District 9 soccer title this fall — Reed is batting at the top of the order and thriving.

“Getting five hits tonight has showed me that the work I put in to get back to the player I was before surgery — it just makes me so happy,” Reed said. “To be able to win that game with my team was amazing.”

Reed came into the season with some big goals.

“Be a better teammate, a better pitcher, hitter, and a more aggressive baserunner,” Reed said.

Reed puts a lot of time into being a softball player, which she said has made it her favorite sport — one she hopes to keep playing for a long time.

“Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “I love soccer, too. I put more time into (softball).

“To be able to play again has brought me back the love I’ve always had for the game,” Reed added. “I lost the love for the sport when I missed a whole season. My coaches and teammates helped me out with that.”