by Cheval John
Every student athlete dreams of finishing their collegiate career on a high note.
For senior pitcher Tomi Garrison, she will get that opportunity to close out her career as Sam Houston State Bearkat softball team competes in the Southland Conference Post-Season Tournament that will be held in San Antonio from May 10-12.
The Bearkats, who started the season at 1-13, won their last 25 of 31 games to finish the season at 26-19 and secured the No. 2 seed for the tournament.
Garrison played a major role in the turnaround as she collected 9 wins, pitched a total of 73.2 innings and struck out 50 total batters in her last 11 starts and got three saves in relief to finish the regular season at 10-8.
“We started out the season saying, ‘we’re going to the tournament,’ and now we are” Garrison said.
“We knew we had a good team…when we went through that slump, it brought our team together. In the middle of the season, you started seeing more chemistry between us.”
It comes as no surprise to Garrison as she has been on every winning team since she began playing the sport competitively at nine years old.
The psychology major was the starting pitcher at Garland High School, the team made it to four state championships, winning two in the process.
As a starter, she compiled a record of 97-13 and racked up awards including the All-State Tournament and State Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2007 and“District 10A-5 MVP,” and the Gales Fields Awards in her senior year.
She also pitched for the Texas Glory Softball Club, that won the AFA National Championship.
Garrison knew that she wanted to attend Sam Houston State University because during her time at Garland, one of her assistant coach Jennifer Robertson, was a former player and assistant coach for head coach Bob Brock at SHSU.
“I got a call from her (Robertson)…’you need to come out and watch our freshman pitcher (Garrison), she’s really good,” coach Brock said. “I got a young lady who ended up pitching all four years in the final state championship game.”
“I really wanted to go to Sam because coach Brock would come to a lot of my games,” Garrison said.
She compiled a 3-3 record, with 26 strike outs and a 3.22 earned run average (e.r.a.) and made the SLC Tournament in her first year at Sam.
She improved in her sophomore year, with a 5-4 record and striking out 37 batters.
Her junior year was a break-out year as she struck out 116 batters and dropped her e.r.a to 2.62 and was an honarable-mention on the All-Southland Conference team.
“She is consistent and she get strike outs when you need them,” coach Brock said.
Now with the regular season over, Garrison is more focused on winning the tournament and knows what it takes to win.
She has established her legacy on the softball program and coach Brock is a better person because of the opportunity he had to coach Garrison.
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Tomi Garrison: A Proven Winner
by Cheval John
Every student athlete dreams of finishing their collegiate career on a high note.
For senior pitcher Tomi Garrison, she will get that opportunity to close out her career as Sam Houston State Bearkat softball team competes in the Southland Conference Post-Season Tournament that will be held in San Antonio from May 10-12.
The Bearkats, who started the season at 1-13, won their last 25 of 31 games to finish the season at 26-19 and secured the No. 2 seed for the tournament.
Garrison played a major role in the turnaround as she collected 9 wins, pitched a total of 73.2 innings and struck out 50 total batters in her last 11 starts and got three saves in relief to finish the regular season at 10-8.
“We started out the season saying, ‘we’re going to the tournament,’ and now we are” Garrison said.
“We knew we had a good team…when we went through that slump, it brought our team together. In the middle of the season, you started seeing more chemistry between us.”
It comes as no surprise to Garrison as she has been on every winning team since she began playing the sport competitively at nine years old.
The psychology major was the starting pitcher at Garland High School, the team made it to four state championships, winning two in the process.
As a starter, she compiled a record of 97-13 and racked up awards including the All-State Tournament and State Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2007 and“District 10A-5 MVP,” and the Gales Fields Awards in her senior year.
She also pitched for the Texas Glory Softball Club, that won the AFA National Championship.
Garrison knew that she wanted to attend Sam Houston State University because during her time at Garland, one of her assistant coach Jennifer Robertson, was a former player and assistant coach for head coach Bob Brock at SHSU.
“I got a call from her (Robertson)…’you need to come out and watch our freshman pitcher (Garrison), she’s really good,” coach Brock said. “I got a young lady who ended up pitching all four years in the final state championship game.”
“I really wanted to go to Sam because coach Brock would come to a lot of my games,” Garrison said.
She compiled a 3-3 record, with 26 strike outs and a 3.22 earned run average (e.r.a.) and made the SLC Tournament in her first year at Sam.
She improved in her sophomore year, with a 5-4 record and striking out 37 batters.
Her junior year was a break-out year as she struck out 116 batters and dropped her e.r.a to 2.62 and was an honarable-mention on the All-Southland Conference team.
“She is consistent and she get strike outs when you need them,” coach Brock said.
Now with the regular season over, Garrison is more focused on winning the tournament and knows what it takes to win.
She has established her legacy on the softball program and coach Brock is a better person because of the opportunity he had to coach Garrison.
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About Cheval John
Cheval John is the Founder and CEO of Vallano Media, LLC, a marketing agency which helps small to mid-sized businesses use social media correctly to build a loyal following and in the process become more profitable. Cheval is also the host of "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business. He is the author of two books including the Amazon Best-Seller, "8 Lessons Every Podcaster Needs To Learn." He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017 about topics around live streaming and podcasting. Cheval has been featured in media outlets including Ebony Magazine, Social Media Today and Forbes. He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and a Twitter Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.