Two FGCU softball players playing for those who impacted their lives

On the softball diamond, Florida Gulf Coast outfielder Riley Oakes has never taken no for an answer. She defied the odds by playing while having double vision.

“It’s kind of like I see multiple balls,” Oakes explained. “So I kind of have to define which one is the actual ball and which one is not, which can be very difficult at times. It’s kind of like luck for me.”

Her source of inspiration is her childhood friend, Jake. The two met in third grade and they became instant friends.

“He honestly pushed me to become a better athlete and a better person in the classroom,” Oakes said. “I realized a lot of his struggles they weren’t the same as mine but they were a lot harder than what I have gone through. But I just saw him fight everyday for his life.”

The two friends have been inseparable, even taking each other to prom. But growing up, they were also friendly competitors.

“We had this one competition where who can sit longest in a wall sit,” Oakes recalled. “And I have never sat that long in my entire life in a wall sit. And I pushed really hard cause I didn’t want him to beat me. I wanted to be first place. He won.”

Jake uses that competitive spirit in his own life. He has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. In 2013, Jake had a hemispherectomy, where half of his brain was disconnected. He also developed hydrocephalus, caused by a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid inside the brain. That led to 20 brain surgeries.

“I just remember dropping everything and being there by his side,” Oakes said. “He’s a fighter so I never doubted any surgery he went into. But I know seeing him after surgeries even before just brought so much light to my life. And knowing that I couldn’t go through life without him right beside me.”

That’s why every time she takes the field, she thinks of Jake. Even wearing a bracelet that says “Fighting for Jake” with a sun, which has a special meaning.

“Only our bracelets together you are my sunshine,” Oakes said. “It was a saying that goes around that we kind of realized that like he is my sunshine.”

She added, “I just know that I have him no matter what. Like if he’s not here he’s still here with me. Like he’s here in my heart with me. And I know that I can achieve anything because he’s here telling me I can.”

Oakes isn’t the only member of the FGCU softball team that is honoring someone close to them. Fellow outfielder Olivia Black has a special tradition every time she steps up to the plate.

“I step in front of the box so I can always see it,” Black said. “And I trace LC which stands for Layne Chesney. And I’ll draw a line and a cross and I’ll step into the box and be ready to go.”

Layne Chesney was Olivia’s travel ball teammate. On New Year’s Eve 2017, Layne was in a bonfire accident that burned 95 percent of her body.

“We didn’t think she’d make it through the first 24 hours,” Black explained. “So I mean even the firemen showing up onto the scene said they never seen anything like it before. And typically they don’t expect someone to survive that.”

Despite that, Layne fought for a year and a half before she passed away in 2019.

“I remember feeling in that moment just kind of like everything slowed down and was very still,” Black recalled. “And I didn’t know emotions were hard for me to grasp and I eventually broke down and what not. I didn’t feel real.”

Black added, “people talk a lot about losing a family member or a really close friend but they never talk to you about losing a teammate, which is something that I mean is like losing a sister.”

Layne’s memory still motivates Olivia, “If she can be so incredibly strong and show such strength and like fight her, I should be able to do that every single day And not take anything for granted.”

Olivia has to push no matter what because she’s playing for something bigger than herself.

“I remember during the funeral I went up to her grandfather and it was a very emotional moment,” Black said. “But I just remember thinking to myself when I hugged him that this man would give anything to see his granddaughter play softball. He was her number one supporter 100 percent of the time. I remember thinking to myself I’m going to you know play D1 softball I’m going to go for four years and live the dream she had dreamed she would.”