Ava Bush overcomes adversity through limitless determination

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Rock Bridge's Ava Bush made an instant impression when she joined the softball team as a freshman.

Under the leadership of head coach Lisa Alvis, only a few Bruins have earned the opportunity to be a four-year varsity starter.

Bush was one of them.

"As a freshman, my goal was to just play my game. Obviously, my freshman year we had a crazy good team, so coming into that was really stressful," Bush said. "I kind of felt like I had a lot of expectations, and I always put a lot of expectations on myself. So, I just had to stay true to myself."

"If you could hit, we got to find a spot for you, and she hits. She hits really well," Alvis said. "Just watching a pure lefty swing, I think is really, really special. But, it's just her level of play and how she swung it naturally."

Since cracking Rock Bridge's starting lineup in her freshman season, a team that registered a 37-2 overall record, Bush has established herself as a proven winner and one of the state's most talented players. The outfielder has currently helped guide the program to 120 wins, four undefeated conference campaigns, one district title and one state championship appearance over four seasons.

"She's one of the most competitive people that I know," Hayden Bush, Ava's sister and Rock Bridge's starting shortstop said.

Offensively, she's hit 54 home runs in her career, one away from tying the state record set by Ava's former teammate Addie Morris.

"Honestly, I just keep it simple," Bush said. But, honestly, I'm just thinking line drives. If I can do that, then there's a good shot that I can get it over."

Defensively, Bush has the responsibility of patrolling centerfield for the Bruins, and she has a knack for making critical catches in pivotal moments. In fact, Bush made a game-saving catch in the 2024 Class 5 State Championship, robbing a home run from Mizzou signee Abby Carr and throwing a strike to second base for a double play. The play was featured on the SportsCenter Top-10.

"It was surreal," Bush said.

"One of the most incredible catches I've seen at the high school level," Alvis said. "She's made some incredible plays, but that catch at state was incredible. I remember her and I talking about it like, 'What were you thinking?' She's like, 'I honestly wasn't.' When you think of it from the mental side in the sport, she was in her flow like she was in her optimal performance and her reaction, her athleticism, everything just kind of took over."

However, Bush has to navigate many twists and turns on that path to success.

"I hurt my knee playing soccer during my freshman year. I got a surgery and that surgery failed, so I had to make the decision if I wanted to get a transplant then or just kind of play it out and see how it goes. I decided to just play it out because I didn't want to be out longer than I had to be," Bush said. "So, that whole [sophomore] season, I played with a hole in my knee."

Bush, who was a three-sport athlete, learned that she had Traumatic Full Thickness Osteochondral Defect, a rare joint injury where the cartilage is completely damaged. Due to the nature of the injury, she could not continue playing contact sports, ending her soccer and basketball careers. It also put her junior softball season in jeopardy.

"My doctor told me before the second surgery that it was like a 12-to-18 month recovery, and he told me that there's a possibility I could never get back to 100%," Bush said. "That was super scary to me. I'm pretty sure there was also a chance I could never play again."

"I was nervous for her because she went out her recruiting season, so that's one less season you get eyes on you," Bush said. "I wasn't really sure if she was going to fall off the map."

However, through perseverance and determination, Bush recovered from the injury in just nine months, just in time to start her junior year of high school softball. She did not miss a single game.

"I think her mind just took over and she was like, I'm not letting this beat me," Alvis said.

Bush batted .439 with 17 home runs to help lead Rock Bridge to its second-ever state championship appearance, where she made that game-saving catch. A moment that embodies her journey, showing she's not afraid to push limits for the game and team she loves.

"It's the biggest game, the biggest stage in high school softball, and her mindset is, why not lay it all out there?" Alvis said. "It absolutely embodies her. She, again, lays it all out, puts her body out there for the sake of the team."

From there, the future SEC softball student-athlete was offered the opportunity to take her talents to the next level. Bush, who will be a Class of 2026 graduate, committed to the University of Alabama.

"I honestly kind of started crying," Bush said. "On my visit, I knew as soon as I stepped on campus, this is exactly what I wanted."

"I was really excited," Bush said. "I always knew that she was great and able to go do big things. I was just waiting for everybody else to get to see that, too."

Through all the ups and downs, the resilience that Bush showed during this experience is a quality that she'll continue to carry.

"I learned that everything happens for a reason. No matter what life throws at you, it's always for a reason, and that's what I've just kind of lived through with my knee surgery, the setbacks and my recruiting process," Bush said. "I think through my whole process, it showed me a lot. So, ever since then, I've just kind of lived by that, and I will always live by that."

Bush and the Bruins will play for back-to-back district championships on Monday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. against Helias Catholic High School.