SUPERIOR – Mackenzie Bird hasn’t gotten many at-bats during her four-year softball career at UW-Superior, but when she gets to the plate, she makes it count. After what she went through during her freshman year at Superior, each at-bat is even sweeter.

Bird, a 2021 Menomonie High School graduate, is posting a career batting average of .406 over 25 games played (as of March 31). Bird has been a catcher, pinch hitter and outfielder for the Yellowjackets, but it’s amazing that Bird is playing at all.

During her true freshman year, Bird was diagnosed with an epidural abscess and for a brief time, the possibility of walking again was even questioned.

“At first they told me that if they operated on me, I would never be able to walk again,” Bird said. “After having surgery, I had to give myself antibiotics through a port in my arm for six weeks.”

Rehabilitation was in Bird’s future and it became a part of her life.

“The rehab was designed for me to try to get the muscles in my back to work,” Bird, the daughter of Mike and Jodi Bird, said.  “It was a slow process. I couldn’t lift more than five pounds for a couple of weeks. After that I was doing a lot of different body weight movements for a couple of months. At the very end of rehab, we added some fielding and throwing. When I got back up to school, I was still working with the trainers a couple times a week.”

“I was so behind in school,” Bird said.”I had missed all of my midterms. I was in the hospital for 10 days and I was working on homework in the hospital. When I was home (in Menomonie), I would join class on Zoom but I had to wait to take all of my exams.”

“After coming back to school, my only focus was school,” Bird said. “I told (head) coach (Melissa Fracker) that I would start coming back to practice after I was caught back up in all of my classes. I would go to the home softball games, but I did not travel with the team that (freshman) year. I had too much medication and I don’t think I would’ve been able to sit on a bus that long.”

Getting back to playing softball was a motivator during the rehab process, and the concern shown by the coaching staff, teammates, friends and family played a vital role in her recovery.

“The goal was always to get better to go back to play,” said Bird. “That was my motivation to keep going.”

“My coaches texted me almost every day I was in the hospital,” Bird said. “I was in constant contact with my teammates and friends. My parents were there for everything. They would make the drive up instantly if there was a hint that I might need another surgery. They got all of my school stuff for me and they were constantly checking in on me. They both took me back to the hospital the week I got out a few times for different complications.”

“The reality was no one knew if Mackenzie would be able to play softball again and what the recovery would be like,” Coach Fracker said. “However, she worked hard to get herself back to the player she was prior and we are proud of her every single day that she was able to overcome to continue to play the sport she loves.”

Bird was able to join the team for fall practice in what would be her sophomore season (2022-23), and it was a season where she found her groove on the team. While not in a starting role – Bird has started only one game over the three years she has played – she has become a valuable part of the team.

“Mackenzie may not see a lot of time on the field, but her role is crucial to all the success we’ve had the past four years and I do not think we will find someone who can do all three of those important tasks so well again,” Fracker said. “When we are not using her in a pinch hitter situation or a defensive replacement situation, it is her job to keep whichever pitcher is coming into the game ready to go.”

Bird has bought into her role.

“Before the game I warm up one of the two pitchers who could start the game,” Bird said.  “During the game I keep the pitcher who didn’t start warm and start warming up another pitcher. In the bullpen, my job is to give the pitchers feedback and to help them figure out if anything is going wrong.”

The coaching staff relies on how Bird interacts with the pitchers.

“The coaching staff trusts Mackenzie’s ability to relay important information to us about what she is seeing from pitchers,” said Fracker, “and I cannot tell you how rare that is or what an advantage it is that we have her doing that for us, especially considering we typically use two to three pitchers per game.”

Even while she has been working with the pitchers, Bird needs to be ready to jump into a pinch hitting situation. In only 31 total career at-bats, Bird has driven in 15 runs.

Her biggest offensive outburst came during her first year back when she smacked out back-to-back grand slams, a feat few ball players have ever achieved.

“We were playing North Central University and it was my first season back from rehabbing my injury,” Bird said. “I don’t think that I had had a hit yet that season. We were up by a lot, so coach put me in to get an at-bat. I hit the first home run and I could not believe that after having surgery, that I could still hit like I could before. The next inning I was back up to bat with bases loaded. I knew that I just didn’t want to strike out. I think she threw me about the same pitch again and I took that one over the fence.”

Bird, an accounting and economics major with a minor in Spanish, is planning to graduate in December 2025. A three-time Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete currently posting a 3.8 grade point average, Bird is putting her schooling to work. A typical day will find her attending classes and working as an accounting specialist at Superior Choice Credit Union before heading to the ball field or field house for either practice or games.

Fracker has seen Bird develop as more than just a softball player, but taking on leadership roles.

“Mackenzie has built relationships with every one of her teammates and can pick up and communicate with everyone on the team,” Fracker said. “She is a mini-coach on our staff and helps her teammates work on pitching mechanics, base-running reads and swing mechanics. If Mackenzie decides she wants to stay in softball I think anyone would be lucky to have her on their staff as an assistant coach or as a head coach.”

After graduation next winter, Bird plans to work at the credit union in Superior for a few years.

But for now, she will continue to work with her teammates through the remainder of her final season.

The Yellowjackets are currently 15-4 (as of March 31) with at least 22 games remaining on the schedule. Superior is scheduled to play at UW-Stout Tuesday, April 8 in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.