(EDITOR'S NOTE: This week's Feature Friday Series is dedicated in memory of Deanna Marie Rivers, who lost her life in December 2012. Her high school teammate and current Ravens softball freshman Melissa Morgan has worked hard to honor her memory.)

By Dave Sweet
Athletics Student Feature Writer

It's easy to feel invincible when you're young; especially in high school and college. All of the thrills and excitement of being with your friends from home and then venturing off to college to make your mark is empowering.

Sadly, though, the sobering event of drunk driving deals a harsh lesson to young people each year. It can take away that feeling of empowerment in an instant.

For a pair of Franklin Pierce softball freshmen, the date of Dec. 2, 2012, unfortunately featured that sobering moment. In particular, Melissa Morgan lost a friend and former high school teammate, which shook her and her hometown of Clifton Park, N.Y. to its core. 

The town and the entire region in that section of the state mourned. However, a school and college team from Rindge, N.H. was determined to give back to the community and empower it with a sense of hope for the future.

On that December morning, Morgan awoke to  numerous text messages and several missed calls on her cell phone. Most of them were from former high school teammates, and read along the lines of "Did you hear what happened to Deanna?" Puzzled by the messages, Morgan continued to browse through until one from her mother said "CALL ME NOW."

So Morgan did and she received the terrible news of Deanna Marie Rivers.

Just hours before the barrage of messages on Morgan's phone, Deanna Rivers was in a car with some friends as they were making their way back from watching a basketball game in Albany. While driving along Interstate-87, a drunk driver clipped the edge of Deanna's vehicle and the impact sent the car tumbling across the road before finally coming to a stop on a wooded platform beside the median. Rivers, a senior at Shenendehowa H.S., along with the driver of the vehicle, did not make it out of the car alive.

"I was in shocky when I found out," said Morgan, who is a health sciences major. "It just didn't feel real. I knew (Deanna) since middle school and she was my teammate, and I always say teammates are like your family. I can't imagine how hard it is for the girls back home who have to finish their senior year without her."

The town of Clifton Park mourned and the surrounding towns in the region joined along in honoring the memory of the young lives lost that evening.

Morgan Cahill, a freshman and teammate of Melissa Morgan's on the 2013 Ravens softball team, grew up just 20 miles from Clifton Park in the town of Saratoga Springs. While not a high school teammate of Rivers, Cahill was just as saddened by the news. The bond that exists between people in the region is very strong and its bond is due to high school sports.

"High school sports is huge in the region and there are a lot of terrific rivalries between the towns and schools," Cahill said. "But for as much as the rivalries are competitive, everyone appreciates all the student-athletes, no matter the school. I knew Deanna from playing against her and it was an honor to be on the same field as her. She played the game the right way and set a standard for leadership and sportsmanship. The news hit me hard because she was such an outstanding person."

Melissa Morgan needed someone to talk to. She reached out to her college head coach, Christine Grenache, who offered all the support that was needed. 

"One of the first things that coach said to me after I told her about the accident was 'what can Franklin Pierce do to help?'," Morgan said. "It was great to hear that from coach."

It didn't take long to come up with an idea for honoring the life of Deanna...a youth softball instructional clinic in her hometown. It was suited perfectly for Clifton Park and the surrounding region as it  honored the town's love of sports, while displaying the characterstics of sportsmanship by providing fundamental instruction to area youth.

"It was more than just a softball clinic," said Grenache. "Melissa told me about Deanna's love for softball and how she carried herself with dignity on the field and off the field. We discussed several different ideas, but it just seemed right to honor her memory by passing along to kids the values of hard work, determination, sportsmanship and team work."

"As an opponent, those values were evident in Deanna anytime you played her," Cahill said. "We knew she would be proud of the idea."

And so on Feb. 23, the coaching staff and members of the Franklin Pierce team made the three-hour trek to The Sports Barn in Clifton Park, and teammed up with the Union College softball program and its head coach Michelle Connors, to run multiple clinics for kids in the region.  Each session took place in two-hour blocks, including one for ages 7-12 and another for ages 13-18. 

"The day turned out to be fantastic," Grenache said. "A lot of kids came out and the student-athletes on both the Franklin Pierce and Union teams served as terrific role models. "

"When I was little I always enjoyed going to events like these because I looked up to the college athletes," Cahill said. "Now, I'm the college athlete and kids are looking up to me. It's a big responsibility, but one that I cherish. Deanna's death proved life is precious."

The event raised $3,130, which was presented to Deanna's family that evening at The Sports Barn. The Rivers family will donate all proceeds to the Deanna Marie Rivers Foundation, which purchases prom dresses for girls who can't afford it.

"I was glad that Franklin Pierce softball could be a part of such a special day to honor a special life," Grenache said. "I look forward to working with the Deanna Marie Rivers Foundation in the future and helping to carry on her spirit."

"I remember hearing (about what the foundation would do) and thinking that was perfect and it was something Deanna would have loved," Morgan said. "I'm still kind of in shock about the whole situation. It was so sudden and unexpected. All I knew is that I needed to do something...anything. She was a great girl and that's the least she deserved from us."