Emily Wood acts as a role model for mental and physical resilience on the softball field

Fifth-year senior outfielder Emily Wood has played through shoulder tears, has broken bones on the softball field and still assisted her team with a 2024 2nd Team All-GLVC selection and a 2025 1st Team selection. Originally a redshirt freshman for the Iowa State Cyclones, Wood transferred to the University during her freshman year and currently holds the third-highest slugging percentage. She is tied for fifth for the highest batting average and most triples.

During Wood’s time with the Bulldogs, she has had multiple injuries from her sport, but according to her coach and teammates, her determination to play has kept her on the field. Her teammate, Cassie Smith, shared how Wood motivates the team during hard times.

“Me and Emily have been through our fair share of slumps over the years…you know, you go 0 and 10 on the weekend, and it’s kind of terrible, but she never is one of those people that sits on the end of the dugout and doesn’t cheer anybody on,” Smith said. “She’s very much a positive attitude for overcoming struggle, and, I mean, we play a game of failure, so it’s kind of hard to stay hype all the time. She’s very much an example for staying positive, knowing that you are good, and you will get a hit one time.”

Women’s softball coach, Ron Ferrill, said Wood continuously gives everything she has physically toward her game. Injuries big and small have impacted her throughout her playing career, like a broken leg and tears in her shoulder, but according to Ferrill, Wood demonstrated that she is committed to playing through the pain.

Ferrill mentioned that early this season, Wood played a game with a shoulder injury, knowing she would have to come out of the game if she had told him. Not only has she suffered from a shoulder injury during the season, but Wood also broke two bones in her leg during a game to follow through with a play.

“Our outfield is recruited and designed to not ever let a fly ball hit the ground… she has literally broken her leg trying to accomplish that for this program,” Ferrill said. “I watched her snap her leg, tibia and her fibula, on her softball field that 1st year, and it was extremely gruesome.
It was one of the worst injuries I’ve seen on the field before. She fought to get back from that.”

According to Ferrill, Wood’s determination to bounce back from her injuries manifested in not only physical improvement but also her positive attitude, which has allowed her to be an inspiration to her team. Wood said she strives to be a role model for her teammates through her mental stamina. 

“I think that I can always be the type of person to have something to say, even when we’re losing, or we need someone to pump us up,” Wood said. “I try my best to always keep my composure – doesn’t always go the best – but just making sure that even in times of struggle that I’m someone that they could turn to, and they look to me and make sure that I’m not down on myself, and as long as I believe in that, we can do something that everyone else will see”.

With her departure at the end of this season, according to Ferrill, she is going to be one of the hardest players to replace. Wood’s time at the University has helped, as Ferrill said, “redefine” the way the outfield plays. She said she wants to leave behind a legacy that will continue to shape the program in the future, both on and off the field.

“I want them to remember that I was kind of the senior that was always bringing a positive attitude to practice and always there for them when they needed something,” Wood said. “I think that the legacy I would like to leave would be far beyond the softball field and just how people remember me as a person of just always being there to give them and share with them anything that they could need. So that would be my hope when I leave this and just leave an impression that I was a good person.”