How death of her mom from cancer and dad's persistence molded George softball signee Esther White

It's hard not to notice Waverly's Esther White.

The 6-foot-2 Lady Tigers shortstop stands at least six inches taller than most of her teammates. The right-handed infielder has a left-handed batting stance and power at the plate that is unforgiving.

But what most notice about White, isn't so much that she's bound for the SEC as a Georgia signee, but that she remains humble, hard working and appreciative of the help on her journey that was rife with grief over the loss of her mother 13 years ago.

"I don't tell her near enough about how absolutely proud I am of her," said Scott White, Esther's father, after Waverly rallied to beat Fairview 15-8 last Tuesday. "Sometimes I just have to think, 'Man, this is incredible.'"

Scott White couldn't form the words he needed to talk about his daughter during her signing ceremony a few months ago. He was overcome with emotion. He'd been through it before with his oldest daughter Grace who played four years at Union University. And he has a younger daughter, Abigail, who is a sophomore softball player for Waverly.

"My dad is the best dad a girl could have," Esther said. "For him to raise three girls on his own, basically ... I mean our family has had help over the years, but he has been so great. He's done everything possible for us and only through the grace of God have me and my sisters been so lucky to have him."

The White family jolted with diagnosis

In November of 2010, Scott White's wife, Sandy, went in for a routine mammogram. Within weeks she was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer which had spread to her lymph nodes.

Sandy White watched her mother die from the same disease three years earlier. She saw her mom go through the journey of diagnosis, treatment, four years of remission, and its aggressive return that began a year-long battle before Sandy's mother died in 2007.

Sandy and Scott decided they didn't want to go through that. They didn't want their daughters to watch their mother endure chemotherapy treatments, the fatigue, the hair loss.

"That was just the decision that we made," Scott White said. "We felt like that was the right thing for us. I would not tell anybody else to do that, but ..."

Esther was 5 when her mom died. Grace was 10 and Abigail was only 3. But the young girls never felt cheated from time with their mother. Sandy, who was named after Los Angeles Dodgers pitching legend, Sandy Koufax, spent all of her time with her girls. All three were home schooled and Sandy poured herself into their education.

"They didn't see her go through all the other stuff that can wreak havoc," Scott White said. "They only knew her as she was before she died in August (of 2011). You wouldn't have known she was sick if you'd seen her (at that time)."

Scott White finds out he's not alone

After Sandy's death, Scott found himself with three daughters to raise on his own. But he quickly found out he wouldn't be alone. The New Johnsonville community rallied to support him, including the families of daughters who played alongside Grace, Esther and Abigail on travel softball teams. A Waverly retired English teacher helped home school the girls during the day while Scott worked.

"There are softball mothers out here who have helped along the way because I'd be in Panama City with Abigail, Esther would be in Biloxi, Mississippi and Grace would be in Oklahoma City with different travel teams," Scott said. "They'd stay with other families. The people in this community are a family in the truest sense of the word."

Esther grows into a Waverly softball star

Esther's size, now, was a drawing card for major college coaches that included most SEC schools during her recruitment. Last year, she hit .536 with 16 doubles, nine triples, seven home runs and 31 RBIs and was a perfect 43-for-43 on stolen bases and scored 60 runs in 2023 as Waverly made it to the consolation finals of the TSSAA Class 2A state tournament.

But she wasn't always the biggest kid on the field. She started out as a small right-handed hitter whose talent was as a bunter. When she switched to batting left-handed at 13-years-old, she took a more traditional hitting approach.

"It was rough at first," she said. "I had to re-learn how to hit."

A star began to emerge for Waverly. Through the first nine games this season, she was batting .666 with four home runs, two grand slams and 17 RBIs. She drove in three runs in last Tuesday's win.

"She's the best player to ever come through here," Waverly coach Stephen Webb said. "And we've had a lot of really good players. But as good as she is as an athlete, she's a better kid. She works with the younger kids in our town and these young kids want to be around her. They all want to be Esther."

There's not a day that goes by that Esther doesn't think about her mom. Scott White said Sandy was a devoted lover of softball and baseball. She spent summers on the field when Grace got into the sport at a young age. She watched just as Esther began her softball journey, but never got a chance to watch Abigail play.

"I know she'd love all of this," Esther said. "She loved the sport. She loved her daughters. I know she's proud of me and my sisters. She taught us to be good Christians and taught us to have fun so that's what we try to do in her memory."

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA softball: Hardships molded Georgia softball signee Esther White