Oakdale shortstop Amanda Bricker – a deaf Division I softball recruit – crushes softballs and adversity alike

Amanda Bricker enters her freshman fall softball season at California Baptist University in Riverside on a high note. 

She emerged in the spring as one of the premier infielders in the Sac-Joaquin Section for powerhouse Oakdale, leading the 26-3-1 squad in hitting (.506) and runs scored (30). 

The versatile 5-foot-6 shortstop not only earned a spot on the SBLive Sports All-SJS team, but also won the fan vote for best player in the section. 

Her accolades no doubt brought her personal acclaim, but more important to Bricker was shedding light to her ultimate goal. 

"I want other deaf kids to know not to give up," she said.

Born deaf herself, Bricker has forever been much more than a softball star. She's a walking, fielding, power-hitting success story, who had to overcome a significant disability to pursue her goals and live her best life. 

She's one of just a handful of deaf athletes to ever play college softball at the NCAA D1 level and compete with cochlear implants.

Bricker got her first cochlear implant at 16-months-old before receiving a second one a year later. Hearing for her still comes with significant challenges, but the procedure resulted in a best-case outcome, allowing her to hear almost everything those around her can.

As a result of the device surgically embedded outside her skull, Bricker was able to hear, talk with and blend in with her peers fluently from a young age. 

Cochlear implants also gave her the ability to hear what was happening around her in the classroom and on the softball field. 

The rest was up to her. 

"I worked my butt off to get here," she said. "My disability gave me a chance to develop my character, and work harder from an early age."

'Always been our leader'

Longtime Oakdale head coach Larry Loger met Bricker when she was eight. He said there weren't many challenges in coaching his future star shortstop because of her own drive to succeed.

"You could tell right away she was going to outwork everyone else," Loger said. "She adapted so well at a young age that I don't remember it ever being an issue.

"Sometimes she has to come ask me about things in between innings, or we used hand signals. But Amanda has always been our leader and always outworked everyone else."

Long before high school, Loger coached Bricker on numerous occasions and was a resource for her and her family. That included instructing her her at camps, clinics, and rec leagues. 

"What you admire most is that she never let that disability become an issue," Loger said.

"When she was really young, I knew instantly that she had the hearing problem, but even then I don't remember ever feeling like I had to 'deal with it.' She cares so much about the game. Her knowledge far exceeds most others even on her travel ball team. She's a natural leader. She takes no plays off and the other girls see it for themselves."

Overcoming her disability took countless hours of doctor's appointments and speech therapy throughout her childhood, and endless support from parents, Brandy and Kevin. 

But she reached a point at a young age where deafness wasn't holding her back. And then, it didn't take long for Bricker to stand out as a softball player.

Making Waves

By the time she started high school much of her story was already well-documented.  Bricker made waves in eighth grade playing with NorCal Firecrackers, a nationally-recognized travel team. 

She was featured on ABC10, Good Day Sacramento and CBS Sports in 2018.

Even at 13, her goals were already clear. 

In the ABC10 report she said, "After high school I want to go to a four-year university and study to be in the hearing department. Something like an audiologist or something in sports medicine. I want softball to help me get into a good school that will carry my major."

Fast forward four years and Bricker has steadfastly fulfilled what she set out to do.

When she committed to CBU over numerous D1 schools last summer, she officially fulfilled her vision, right down to the specifics of her academic path.

"It's a dream school and environment," Bricker said. "I stepped on campus for the first time in seventh or eight grade and it felt like home. Everyone was friendly. I liked the coaching staff and the professors. A small university with Christian values had been my goal."

She also mentioned her excitement to play under Mike Smith, the winningest coach in program history who recently returned from a winning tenure at Ole Miss.

Bricker is lined up to major in Communication Sciences and Disorders, minor in Marketing and Sales, and then pursue a master's degree in Speech Pathology as a softball graduate assistant.

"[Regarding my] minor, I want to be a sales rep for cochlear," she said. "Then with my major and speech pathology, I want to eventually open my own practice and work with deaf children. I'd work with everyone, babies to adults, but I specifically want to help children."

Her college commitment came shortly before her senior year began. And with her college decision no longer looming, Bricker was ready to show what she could really do at the plate.

"(Her junior season) I was in my head a lot about college softball," she said. "And COVID made recruiting harder for everyone. But once I committed, I was able to play how I'd normally play."

Major Leap

Bricker was coming off a strong junior season when she hit .339 with four home runs and 29 RBI in just 17 games. 

But as a senior, she took a major leap and became one of the better offensive threats in all of Northern California. She recorded career-highs of 45 hits, 20 extra-base hits, 31 RBI and a 1.426 OPS.

While she'd already proven herself as a D1 talent long before her senior season, Bricker proved that she could succeed and even dominate at the highest level of high school softball.

Even with all the constant challenges.

Bricker's implants and hearing aids enable her to pick up sound as well as most people. When plugged in, the challenge isn't an inability to hear, but separating the different sounds she hears.

"If I'm on the field and it's windy and noisy, or even if there's just a loud road... to me it's all comes in as one sound," Bricker said. "Or when a lot of people are talking to me at once. I can't separate sounds as well as my friends or teammates."

Her parents can't always get through either. 

"There have been times when we wanted to talk to her but she'd been bombarded by sound all day, and just wanted to unplug and decompress," said Brandy. "We got into a few arguments about that. (Laughter). But Amanda is a great advocate for herself and isn't afraid to speak up.

"In any journey with a disability, you have to be your own advocate." 

Bricker has always advocated for and empowered others as well, her mother said. 

"Even as a little kid, she was always picking up the other kid who fell down... she just wants to help others." Brandy said. "She's been there and done that, and it'll make her better at what she wants to do.

"Amanda has been so great, and we're much more comfortable with her leaving for her next chapter knowing all the life skills she's gained just to be a normal person, let alone a great softball player."

"I want [others] to know... not to give up, that anything is possible when you put your mind to it," Amanda said.

Have a good human interest story? Contact Lance Smith at Lance@scorebooklive.com