Mercedes Bass overcame injury to become a leader
June 8, 2010
By Christopher Huber
Eastlake senior Mercedes Bass can still remember the day she made her first basket on a 10-foot hoop, she said. She was 5 and it was in the Eastlake gym during her sister’s basketball practice.
Since then, Mercedes has become one of the leading three-sport athletes on the plateau, balancing a rigorous game schedule while maintaining a high grade point average and battling back from a debilitating injury.
Mercedes Bass shows off the tools of her trade(s). Photo by Christopher Huber
Her experience goes deeper than accolades and leadership roles — All-KingCo honorable mention in volleyball and softball and two-sport captain. It taught her how to work hard, be competitive and enjoy sports.
“For me it’s the excitement of playing every day,” Mercedes said. “It’s something you’re not gonna get from any classroom.”
In the family
Sports and natural athleticism are in the Bass family bloodline. Much of Mercedes’ talent comes from her father, Richard Bass, who played minor league baseball.
Her uncle, Kevin Bass, played for the Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets until 1995. But her mother and siblings also played high school and college sports, she said.
“The whole family kind of has that ‘never give up’ mentality,” said Alyssa Charlston, a friend and teammate of Mercedes who is headed to play basketball at Idaho this fall. “They’re a pretty tough-minded family.”
Mercedes always looked up to her sister and brother. Her sister, Jordann Coleman, who is 10 years older, played varsity sports at Eastlake and taught Mercedes a lot about what she knows, especially the competitiveness, they said.
“I wanted to be just like her,” Mercedes said. “She’s a great role model.”
Her father, Richard, was Eastlake’s first baseball coach.
Regardless of the siblings’ age or skill difference and a family full of successful pro- and college-level athletes, Mercedes said they’ve always kept a healthy level of competitiveness.
“It’s definitely that kind of friendly competition,” Coleman said.
Making it her own
Mercedes said she likes volleyball, basketball and softball equally, but, citing her family background in baseball, feels she is more of a natural at softball.
Volleyball became the sport where Mercedes could relax and have a little more fun, compared to basketball and softball, she said.
She had done better than her family members at it and felt at ease as a captain and setter.
“Volleyball was my own sport,” she said. “With the others (basketball and softball), I was really competitive and wanted to show I was better than my sister.”
In softball, she wanted to show her father she could play, she said.
“Baseball is like our sport,” Mercedes said.
Overcoming injury
Mercedes knew what happened the moment she came down wrong on someone’s foot and wrenched her knee during a pick-up basketball game Sept. 6, 2008. They didn’t even go to the emergency room, but rather rushed to the family’s orthopedic surgeon, she said.
“I knew … what I had done,” she said. “(I thought) ‘my season is over.’”
A torn ACL and a damaged MCL and meniscus.
During recovery, Mercedes went through a reconstructive surgery and nearly a year of physical therapy.
She experienced the typical discouragement, but told herself and teammates like Alyssa she was going to come back to be better than she was before the injury.
“This is my test to see if I can work through it,” Mercedes said.
Mercedes had to sit out three sports seasons at Eastlake before returning to a starting line-up.
But she still went to every practice and team event for each sport, Alyssa said.
“Her working hard and being positive and never complaining once epitomizes a true competitor,” she said.
Although her drive to play varsity sports again was a driving force for her to work so hard to strengthen her leg, she also had insight from her sister’s injury experience.
“When she got hurt, it was definitely a blow, but she knew I went through the same thing,” Coleman said. “It’s hard to deal with something like that at that age. She was able to work hard and get back to close to the level she was at.”
Upon returning to the volleyball court in September 2009, Mercedes said coaches were cautious but respected her judgment to return.
She ultimately returned to her previous leadership roles on the three teams.
Quiet but fierce competitiveness
“She’s pretty much a really incredibly hard-working athlete; kind of a neutralizer on the court,” Alyssa said. “Never too high, never too low. She never lets the game get to her and she plays for the enjoyment of it.”
Part of loving the game was being strategic. Mercedes knew her sports and, at least in basketball and volleyball, was Alyssa’s go-to person to scheme with before games, Alyssa said.
While Mercedes is a fierce competitor who works with skill and patient intensity on the court, she also balances life well in the classroom.
She maintained a 3.7 grade point average and won a scholarship to use to attend Gonzaga University in the fall.
The key to achieving that balance, Mercedes insisted, was to be persistent and not slack off.
“I try to get my stuff done,” she said. “I’m definitely competitive that way, too.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.
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