It’s no surprise that when Jenna Putala entered her freshman year at Wesleyan University this past fall, she majored in Pre-Med.
Why not? For the past five years, the Turners Falls High School graduate has spent more time at the hospital than most doctors. Putala was an exciting prospect for the Turners Falls softball team when she made her varsity debut as a seventh-grader. Instead, Putala has been cursed by injuries. After blowing out the ACL in her left knee playing soccer in 2013, Putala has never fully recovered. The 19-year-old incoming sophomore at Wesleyan is preparing for her fourth surgery on that troublesome knee this month and her softball career remains in purgatory.
Instead of letting the injuries define her career, Putala has found another way to get involved. This summer, Putala began coaching the Turners Falls 14-and-under Suburban League softball team. Next year, she plans to coach the team once again, as well as take over as coach of the Western Massachusetts Warriors 18-and-under tournament team after former coach and Hampshire Regional High School coach Brian McGan retired.
“I like coaching more than I like playing,” Putala said on Sunday night. “When your player gets a hit, say a triple, and you’re coaching third and you see that smile on their face, it just makes you feel great. Or that girl who doesn’t hit very often gets a big hit and you see that smile, it’s just great. I just love it.”
Despite a rash of injuries, Putala still had a successful high school career. After making her debut as a reserve, Putala was a second-base starter in eighth grade and as a freshman. During the fall of her sophomore season, Putala tore her ACL for the first time while playing soccer. She had surgery and rehabbed it and was on the softball field late that season.
Disaster struck again just after the softball season ended when she tore her reconstructed ACL while playing summer-league basketball. She had her second surgery that summer and again made it back for the softball season. One thing that really changed after the two torn ACL’s was her work ethic. Putala said that what once came easy took more work.
“I was lucky because I didn’t have to work for what I had early on,” she said. “After the surgery I really started working out more consistently. I lost most of my quad muscle and I realized I really had to work for what I had. I stayed on top of my exercises. When I started hitting again, I would bring my hitting net into the little weight room at the school. People don’t see that, but the injuries took a huge toll on me. Even academically, I struggled.”
Putala said her parents and brother helped keep her on track during the rough time. She needed it, especially when she learned that she could no longer play basketball because of the toll it took on her knees.
“I would have scored 1,000 points my junior year, but I was not allowed to play,” Putala said. “My dad and my doctor both said that if I wanted to play softball in college, do not play basketball. Honestly, I think I could have played, but a parent and a doctor and seeing a girl go through two ACL surgeries in two years, I think they were worried.”
Putala missed six games that season but came back and had a big year. She followed it up with a monster year her senior year in 2016 when she hit over .500 and helped Turners Falls to yet another WMass and state title.
Things appeared to be going well for Putala as she entered her freshman year of college. Then, in November, her knee locked up and she had surgery to remove scar tissue in December. She was back for the start of the softball season and got off to a fast start, belting a pair of home runs during an early-season trip to Florida. Putala had a strong season, starting at second base as a freshman and batting .273. But after playing in the first 22 games of the season, Putala suffered another injury, this time when her knee again locked up while she was fielding a ball at second base.
“I was just running to get a ball and my knee locked up,” she said. “I thought it was my ACL again.”
Putala has seen a number of doctors and gotten several opinions. The final prognosis was that she has an issue with her meniscus, which is abnormal due to the three previous surgeries. According to Putala, her meniscus has torn with past injuries, and part of her previous surgeries required it to be shaved down a bit in order to essentially reshape it.
Her current injury is not chronically painful, but has prevented her from running. As for playing softball in the future, she said, “I’m taking it one day at a time right now. I’ve visited so many doctors over the summer. At this point, I want to play again, but who knows?”
Putala is finding other ways to remain around the sport she loves. This year, she stopped back during spring break and went to the first two varsity practices. At that point, Jason Salls approached her and told her that he wanted to help out with the varsity team in a larger capacity this season, which would make it illegal for him to coach the Suburban League team under MIAA rules.
Turners Falls head coach Gary Mullins asked Putala if she wanted the job but warned her that not every great player makes a great coach. Putala felt she was up for the challenge and recruited Ashley Costa to serve as her assistant. Costa actually coached Putala when she played Suburban League.
Putala said that she has enjoyed helping players grow on the softball diamond. She does hitting lessons on the side as well.
“I was a good hitter because I learned from the best,” Putala said. “I love working with the girls, helping them modify their swings to fit them. I don’t want them to swing like me. But I like helping them find their swing.”
She said that at this age level, some of the players have had little in the way of proper coaching.
“They tell me they don’t know how to swing a bat properly, how to throw the ball properly,” she explained. “I asked someone if they knew what a load was in their swing and she told me she didn’t know what I was talking about.”
Putala was also approached about coaching an 18-and-under tournament team for next season and she spoke to McGan, who announced prior to this spring that this would be his final year coaching at Hampshire. He also coached the WMass Warriors team and asked Putala if she wanted to take over the team.
“I said, ‘Sure, it would be an honor to do that,’” Putala said.
The team will hold tryouts Monday at the Bourdeau Fields Complex in Turners Falls from 6 to 8 p.m. and will play in tournaments next summer. It’s open to players from any town, not just Turners Falls.
Players must be 19 or under on Feb. 1, 2018. If possible, players should bring birth certificates to tryouts. Putala can be contacted at 824-9549.
Hopefully, Putala can remain out of hospitals for any future knee surgeries. She has already taken one step to stay out of hospitals in the future, changing her major from Pre-Med to Economics. As for her future in softball, it’s looking bright no matter whether she is able to continue playing at a high level. And while it would likely be difficult for her to never play again, you almost get the idea that coaching would make it alright.
“I’ve seen so many of my players grow this season,” she concluded. “That’s another part of coaching that I like. You get to see the players grow.”
Jason Butynski is a Greenfield native and Recorder sportswriter. His email address is jbutynski@recorder.com. Like him on Facebook and leave your feedback at www.facebook.com/jaybutynski.