‘Put me in coach, I’m ready to play.’ A week after having her appendix removed, Gayville-Volin eighth grader Paisley Dimmer was back in the Raiders lineup for the state softball tournament, and in her first at bat of the event, she went yard.
Gayville-Volin 8th grader Paisley Dimmer had her appendix removed last week.
— SDPB Sports (@SDPBSports) June 1, 2024
This week, in her first at bat of the state softball tournament on Thursday, she hit a home run. #SDSoftball24 #SDPreps pic.twitter.com/nfZjp8GbLH
Last week, Dimmer was in Sioux Falls when she knew that something wasn’t right.
“We were at the state track meet and I started to get sick. I had an emergency visit and then the doctor was like “well, you’re not going to be able to play softball if you get your appendix taken out,” and that hurt me a little bit,” Dimmer told. “Then we got transferred to a different doctor. The surgeon came in and said “well, you’re going to have to get it taken out, but I’ll let you play softball if you’re feeling up to it.” So then I felt a little better about it.”
In Thursday’s ‘B’ quarterfinal round, Gayville-Volin played Scotland/Menno. In the bottom of the first inning, as the second batter, Dimmer stepped into the box.
“I was scared, because I didn’t know if it was going to hurt. I practiced before and it wasn’t hurting. It was nerve-racking going up there, first at bat,” she said. “I didn’t know I was going to do that. I just went up with confidence and hit a home run.”
As she rounded the bases, her teammates greeted her with cheers from home plate.
They were saying “I guess you don’t need your appendix,” so it was just great,” Dimmer exclaimed while smiling. “I was just in wow, it was awesome. It was a crazy moment.”
Gayville-Volin fell to Scotland/Menno in the quarterfinals 12-8, but then bounced back in the consolation semifinals on Friday with a 15-3 win against Elkton-Lake Benton. On Saturday, the Raiders season came to an end with a 14-3 loss to Florence/Henry in the consolation championship.
With the season now over for Gayville-Volin, as sixth place finishers in the ‘B’ tournament, there’s obviously some somber moods. But, Dimmer will be back next season, as well as most of her teammates.
“Hopefully we can get back here next year, and we can continue to get better,” she said. “My sister [Ayla] plays and it’s just special for me to play with my sister.”
