Cherry’s Back On Top: Fu Battles Injuries in Return to Infield

This afternoon, senior Cherry Fu will make her first start at second base for the Crimson this season in her third appearance of the year. For those who have followed Fu’s softball career, it’s an accomplishment they never thought they would see.

Fu has been sidelined by injury for almost two years. Throughout that time, she has worked with one goal in mind— making a contribution to a team that has kept her on its roster and competing alongside teammates who have kept her in their hearts.

“I’ve been grateful for the opportunity to play ball at this level and for this school,” Fu wrote in an e-mail. “I wanted to give this team what I could, even if it wasn’t that much, even if it was just me cheering during the game.”

Two years ago, the story was very different. Entering the first round of the NCAA tournament against Oklahoma, Fu was one of the team’s most productive players. Starting every game she played at second base, she helped the Crimson win the Ivy League title.

Fu led the team in doubles that year while amassing 20 RBI and batting .389, which placed her third in the Ancient Eight. Her productivity earned her a spot on the All-Ivy League Second Team and fueled high hopes for her junior season.

“Cherry had a great sophomore year,” Coach Jenny Allard wrote in an e-mail. “I expected her to be a strong contributor her junior year as well.”

Unfortunately, circumstances changed soon after Harvard’s loss to Oklahoma, as Fu was forced to sit out of the consolation match against Northwestern.

“Cherry played extremely well against Oklahoma,” tri-captain Sarah Koppel wrote in an e-mail. “She was poised and confident at the plate. It was unfortunate that she only could play in this one game due to a recurring injury she had that year.”

That injury was not the first of Fu’s career, either. Throughout her freshman year, Fu played with a nagging knee injury. Initially, doctors were unable to diagnose the source of the pain, but midway through the season, they sidelined Fu for the remainder of the season.

“The training room, the doctors, they want the best for me,” Fu said. “They lean towards the conservative and told me just to let go.”

But Fu was undeterred and worked hard to return to action three weeks before the season’s end, setting the stage for her breakout performance sophomore year.

Fu’s performance and resiliency earned her a starting spot at second as a sophomore. Yet her injury troubles were far from over. After landing awkwardly on her shoulder early in the season, Fu played through what was later diagnosed as torn cartilage. Nevertheless, she put up the best numbers of her career.

“[After the injury] I couldn’t raise my arm for a week,” Fu said. “Then I came back and played with pain to finish off the season. I had surgery on my shoulder over the summer and came back junior year to play.”

Junior year did not provide any respite from injury. After leading the team in batting average, Fu was only able to play 15 games in her third season. Against Mercer, Fu bumped into the first baseman in an attempt to beat out a throw. In obvious pain, Fu nonetheless played out the inning before leaving the game. X-rays revealed Fu had a knee fracture which would sideline her for the season. Through all of this, though, Fu remained committed.

“After I was x-rayed and found that it was broken, I was in a cast for nine weeks,” Fu said. “The season was over for me [but] I continued with the team at that point because I didn’t believe in quitting in the middle of a season.”

After yet another battle through rehabilitation and recovery, Fu was ready to return to the lineup this spring. But fate had other plans, as two days before her projected return she once again fell victim to injury. This time it occurred off the field.

“[One] night, my knee gave way under me,” Fu said. “[I felt a] sharp pain, and I found out the next day it was fractured.”

At that point, Fu’s prospects for a return to the team looked bleak.

“I called Cherry once I found out she had fractured her patella again this year,” Coach Allard said. “We found out two days before we were to leave for our trip to North Carolina. I asked her whether she wanted to travel and she said ‘Yes, I want to do whatever I can.’ I never questioned whether she would quit at that point. I knew she was committed until the end.”

This dedication typified Fu’s attitude toward the team.

“I give Coach a lot of credit for allowing me to stay with the team,” Fu said. “The first decision I was faced with was whether to play this year. I said yes, because I love the sport and I love the game. The second decision was whether to continue with the season once I got hurt. The answer was again that I love the sport and that’s why I stayed with it. I could sense that this was going to be a very good team and I wanted to give to it what I could.”

Not everyone was as optimistic. The number and severity of her injuries made some ask Fu about the possibility of giving up softball.

“The doctor said, ‘[if] you go out there [and] trip over a base [or] bump into someone, you could seriously hurt yourself again,” she said. “Our manager said [the same thing] would happen even if [I] were healthy. So I got a bit more confidence to fight the doctors and tell them what I wanted.”

Her team was similarly supportive, understanding that Fu would have little opportunity to contribute on the field.

“She’s put so much heart into this program and because she has not been playing, all her hard work and dedication to the team are often overlooked,” tri-captain Lisa Watanabe wrote in an e-mail. “I know it’s been rough for her dealing with all the injuries she has had here at Harvard but Cherry approaches it with such a positive outlook. She works extra hard and often goes against what the trainer says to speed her recovery.”

Last weekend, Fu returned to the line-up against Dartmouth, just in time for the last weekend series of her career. She came away without a hit, but accomplished something that the box score is incapable of recognizing. Cherry Fu came back, as she always does, and did so against all odds to reclaim her starting role on the Harvard softball team, if only for a day.