By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Staff Writer

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Amanda Scarborough helped the Texas A&M softball team win the Big 12's regular season title. That was expected. How she did it wasn't.

The two-time All-American didn't throw a pitch nor get a hit, yet the senior's contributions during Big 12 play were invaluable as A&M set a school record for conference victories with a 17-1 record.

A season-ending injury to her right foot knocked Scarborough off the field, but from the dugout she blossomed into an All-America teammate and jump-started a promising coaching career.

Between innings, Scarborough reviews the opposing team's batters with pitchers Megan Gibson and Rhiannon Kliesing and catcher Erin Glasco. Scarborough and Glasco constantly make eye contact during the game, referring to the scouting report they wear on their arms.

"I was watching a tape the other night of a game, and she was into every pitch," A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "Basically, she's become a coach, really our pitching coach."

The right-hander certainly knows how to pitch. She has a 71-25 career record with a 1.45 ERA and 27 shutouts.

Scarborough often offers advice to Gibson (30-1, 1.08 ERA) and freshman Kliesing (12-4, 1.31), who have picked up the slack in her absence.

"She's really helped me a lot," Gibson said. "She picks up key things that I might not see."

Scarborough's role changed against Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 20, when she fouled a bunt off her foot. A&M initially didn't think it was a serious injury, but she missed 14 games and didn't return until March 8.

"I got hurt so long before I knew I had to have surgery that I'd started this whole new role with the hope of thinking I was coming back," she said. "I felt I was always going to come back. It gave me a new energy."

She came back and batted once against Illinois and once against Louisiana-Lafayette in the Aggie Classic, but the comeback was short-lived. Her season ended after the Aggie Classic when she had surgery on her right foot a lisfranc fracture of the midfoot. She should be able to put weight on it in five weeks.

When that happens, Scarborough says she wants to have surgery as soon as possible on her left foot for a ruptured plantar's plate. Doctors will repair the main bone in her foot and big toe, and she will need 4-6 months for rehabilitation when she gets off crutches.

"Most kids given the setbacks that she's had could be feeling sorry for themselves at this point," Evans said. "But she's just tried to find a way to help our team get better, and she really has."

Evans knows Scarborough has had tough times dealing with the reality that her playing days could be over, but Scarborough has handled her emotions just as she did after allowing a game-winning homer.

"I don't know if anyone else saw it," Evans said. "She's done a nice job of when she is frustrated or down or disappointed or sad ... she does that in the privacy of her own space. And that's really impressive to me, that she can do that when this means so much to her."

Scarborough's experience allows her to dissect the opposition, but she also uses her positive approach to build up her teammates.

"I stayed positive from the beginning, because I'm not one to sit there and feel sorry for myself about anything, whether I'm 0 of 22 or some girl just hit three home runs off me," she said.

Scarborough's advice hasn't been limited to pitching.

Third baseman Jamie Hinshaw led the team in hitting during Big 12 play at .410, and center fielder Jami Lobpries shook off a slow start because of a back injury to hit .347 with 14 RBIs.

Both said Scarborough often detected a flaw in the opposing team's pitcher, and even though they are seniors, they welcomed her expertise.

Scarborough knew she could make a difference when fellow All-American Gibson listened.

"She didn't have to take my advice," Scarborough said. "But just that she would let me talk to her, I know I would still be part of the team. And now that my advice is working, it makes me feel even better about it."

With that kind of confidence, Scarborough is pouring more energy into her coaching side.

"She's very unselfish," Evans said. "She wants our team to be great. She's invested in our team. Sometimes you get an injured player or a player on the bench, and it's no longer we, it's them. Well, they played well today or they won. Or they didn't look good. And it's never been that [with Scarborough]. It's always been we."

She's always suited out for games in her familiar No. 9 jersey, taking part in pregame and postgame activities, shedding her crutches when she can.

She did so much hopping around after the 2-1, titcle-clinching victory over Texas that Lobpries had to carry Scarborough to her crutches. They were both grinning from ear to ear as Lobpries tried to steady herself as they wobbled.

You'd have thought Scarborough had just thrown a 1-hitter as she celebrated with her teammates.

"She's an exceptional person," Evans said. "I thought that before and [this] really validates how I feel about her and her exceptional character."

Evans always thought Scarborough would make an excellent full-time coach. The former Magnolia High standout wouldn't give it much credence when Evans brought it up -- but no longer.

"It's something I enjoy, and something I'm good at," Scarborough said. "It kinda makes me want to aspire to be a coach. It's fun. And that's eventually what you want to do -- find something that you are good at and something that you really enjoy doing."

She's had the ability keep her on-field personality and use it as she's changed roles.

"Amanda's got a great presence," Evans said. "She always has. On the field, she's considered the voice. She's a leader. She's enthusiastic. That dynamic is on the field, and she brings that into the dugout. She stays in it."

Evans loves coaching and always aspired to be one. She smiles with pride when talking about Scarborough's transformation.

"What this has done for her is to allow her to be able to take a step back and say, 'Wait a minute. I'm good at this. I can see where my input and my perspective can make a difference.' And I think she's smart enough to see that.

"It's not arrogance. Everybody should be so fortunate to find something they are good at and something they also enjoy and are able to pursue."

Scarborough could play again next year. A&M will do the paperwork to get her a redshirt season, but she has to have another surgery on her left foot. She won't make a decision on her playing status until next fall, but she will be part of the team.

A&M is losing its longtime successful volunteer pitching coach, Ali Sagas. Her husband, Michael, a health and kinesiology professor at A&M, has been hired as a department head at Florida. If Scarborough opts not to play, she'll be a fifth-year student assistant and the team's pitching coach.

Either way, the Big 12 hasn't seen the last of Scarborough.

"I'm even looking about pitching a whole new way if I come back and play next year," Scarborough said. " I think mentally, I would be better about it, even if I wasn't 100 percent [physically]."

Scarborough said she often has been able to visualize herself on the mound as she watches Gibson pitch.

"I'm seeing the method to the madness type of thing," she said.

This is not the first time Scarborough has dealt with injury.

Scarborough suffered a concussion from a line drive to the head while practicing for the Big 12 tournament in 2005. Scarborough, who was the league's player of the year as a freshman, missed that tournament and the NCAA Regional at College Station. She returned for A&M's Super Regional against Alabama but wasn't sharp on the mound, allowing a season-high six runs in a 6-5 season-ending loss to Alabama.

It was a heartbreaking setback for the Aggies, who had clearly been one of the nation's best teams. Scarborough was 26-1 with an 0.85 ERA and was batting .408 when she was hurt.

This season, the Aggies haven't missed a beat without Scarborough the player. They were No. 3 in the country on Feb. 19 when she was off to a torrid start at the plate, batting .447 in 15 games with two home runs and 13 RBIs. They head to Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City ranked No. 5. Gibson is a finalist for national player of the year, and seven Aggies are hitting .290 or better as everyone has picked up the slack.

"I think it's actually amazing," Scarborough said.

Which is what her teammates have said about her.

"I've learned a lot about myself mentally and the different aspects of my personality and my character that I'd never seen before," she said. "I'm a better leader, a better overall person.

"These past few months, I feel like I'm a happier person."

• Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.

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