The Missouri softball team finished with a 42–16 record and advanced to the Super Regional stage of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers were led by three seniors: shortstop Sami Fagan and outfielders Emily Crane and Taylor Gadbois.

**Sami Fagan**

In 2012, Sami Fagan was looking for a home. After a strong freshman season, the Dunnellon, Florida, native was released from the Florida Gators team, and rumors about her dismissal circulated over the internet.

“I still don’t know why, to this day, why I was kicked off,” Fagan said. “To live with that, and for people to be making up a bunch of rumors and stuff that aren’t true, it just sucks, honestly.”

She remembers feeling devastated and lost. She was scared she would not find another place to play.

Then Fagan met coach Ehren Earleywine at Missouri. She said that the two clicked right away.

“People don’t know who I am,” she said. “And the fact that Coach E gave me a chance and got to know the person that I am and I got to know the person that he is — I am just so thankful that he was able to take me in and give me a chance.”

Fagan made the most of her opportunity. Her senior year, the shortstop hit .434, the second-highest single-season average in school history, with 11 home runs and 46 walks.

The year, however, ended in heartbreak for Fagan and the team. In a Super Regional game against No. 2 Michigan, the Tigers held a 4–1 lead in the top of the seventh inning with the Wolverines coming to bat. The first batter of the inning hit a routine fly ball to Fagan at shortstop. She lost the ball in the sun and could not make the catch. Michigan capitalized, scoring four runs in the inning en route to a 5–4 win.

“I was absolutely devastated,” she said. “I really wanted that for Coach E and for our whole entire team. I kind of took responsibility throughout the year, because I’m the senior leader. I wanted to get them to that next level, and I kind of feel like I failed them in the end.”

Days later, Fagan was cleaning out her locker with tears in her eyes. While moving her belongings, she got a text from the softball sports information director: She had been named a third team All-American.

Fagan began crying when she received the news. She felt like years of hard work had paid off.

This summer, Fagan will begin her professional softball career for the Akron Racers in the National Pro Fastpitch League. She was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft.

“Softball is the only thing that I want to do,” the shortstop said. “I love this sport so much, and the fact that the Racers picked me fourth overall, it’s really humbling … I just want to go and give my all for them.”

**Taylor Gadbois**

When Taylor Gadbois came to Missouri, she thought that she had four years left in her softball career. She did not envision it going any further.

Now, after her four seasons as a Tiger are up, she is continuing with the sport. Gadbois was drafted 15th overall by the Dallas Charge.

“It just excites me knowing that I can just keep living my softball dream,” Gadbois said. “I just want to see where that takes me.”

Gadbois had a standout career at Missouri, earning All-America honors in 2014. As a senior, she collected 72 hits and 56 stolen bases. Her speed helped wreak havoc on the base paths all season.

The center fielder was initially angry when the 2016 season ended. It took a few days for her emotions to shift to sadness.

“That’s when I really started realizing that my season and time at Mizzou was over,” Gadbois said. “I would never put on the Mizzou jersey again.”

Gadbois said that she had a strong relationship with Fagan and Crane.

“I do not want to play against either of them,” she said. “They’re both really great.”

Gadbois grew up in Missouri and has never lived outside of the state. She thinks it will be good for her to move to Dallas and explore a new area.

She said she is grateful for her time as a Tiger and is thankful to those who have helped her throughout her journey with softball.

“The past four years have been a roller coaster for me, going up and down,” Gadbois said. “I really wish we would have made it to the World Series one of those years, but at the same time, I wouldn’t have traded my experience for anything else.”

**Emily Crane**

Outfielder Emily Crane lives by a quote: “Don’t forget to enjoy right now.”

As she went through her senior year at Missouri, Crane tried to make each moment as special as possible. She tried to live in the present.

“This year was obviously different than all the other years, because there was an end that I knew was coming the whole time …” she said. “To me, knowing at the beginning of the season, that this is my last go around in a Tiger jersey, it made me rethink things a couple of times.”

The Troy, Missouri, native was a force for the Tigers in 2016. She hit .404 with 14 home runs, 61 runs batted in and an .801 slugging percentage. She scored 64 runs, tying a single-season Missouri record.

Crane’s play did not go unnoticed. She earned First Team All-America honors and was drafted seventh overall in the National Pro Fastpitch League. She will play this summer with the Scrap Yard Dawgs in Houston.

Like it was for Fagan, the season-ending loss to Michigan was difficult for Crane.

“Obviously, that was the last time I got to wear that jersey,” she said. “It’s really hard … but I wouldn’t have wanted to end my career with any other team, so I was thankful to be put in the position and given the opportunity to play that game.”

The outfielder will come back to Missouri in the fall once her professional season (June to August) is done. She is set to graduate in December with an emphasis in graphic design.

Crane grew close to her fellow seniors over their years playing together. After so many games wearing the same uniform, the friends will now have to suit up against each other in the pros.

“We can trust each other, and we have each other’s backs,” Crane said. “Leaving them is probably going to be the hardest thing for me, because we gained a level of friendship this year that is so unbreakable. There’s no way that we won’t go through this life without being friends.”

_Edited by George Roberson | groberson@themaneater.com_