Home is where the heart is for Quakertown's Michelle Delloso

Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, N.Y.

When Michelle Delloso graduated from Quakertown High School in 1987, that was the only school that offered her a scholarship to play softball.

That wasn't what the star shortstop who grew up idolizing Major League Baseball star Ozzie Smith had in mind. No, when she was watching the women's college World Series just three years earlier, she had greater aspirations. She would play for mighty Arizona State or the University of Arizona. She was sure of it.

But graduation came and went, and Onondaga was the only school that called.

Delloso, now 47 and living in Utah, had a friend headed to East Carolina, and she could have walked on there to compete for a spot. But that didn't feel right for her.

That's when she first figured out what heart tugs were.

Heart tugs.

They were at the core of Delloso's message when she returned home last weekend to speak at an event for the Quakertown Softball Booster Club.

"I love Quakertown," Delloso said. "I would not trade it, and I've lived all over the country. And I can live anywhere, but this is home."

Delloso is one of many former high school stars who have heart tugs for this area, who leave home to make their mark in the wider world but find their way back to make a difference for those who hope to follow.

Eastern High School's Adam Taliaferro. Lower Merion's Kobe Bryant and John Christmas. Chester's Jameer Nelson. Delran's Carli Lloyd. Simon Gratz's Aaron McKie. Souderton's Jamie Moyer.

They, and many others, all returned home after finding success elsewhere to donate money, sponsor charitable causes, or help their hometown communities benefit from their experiences.

"I think it is part of the complete package, having kids be good citizens," longtime Rowan University softball coach Kim Wilson said. "In the end, they are here for a short time to play softball. They are going to have a lifetime of the little things we taught them, expected of them. The community service. Giving back. That's important."

For Delloso, heart tugs mean knowing your destiny or path. It's when your heart is pulled completely in that direction. She never had one she didn't follow, she said, in her personal life, career, or sports.

So, after high school, she listened to her inner voice and decided to play one more season of summer ball. In order to do that, she bought her first car, a red Datsun she saved up $500 for by waitressing at Pizza Randa.

A stick shift - and lemon - the car served the sole purpose of taking her to and from softball tournaments. But it ended up making only one trip, a 45-minute drive to Newtown for the ASA state softball tournament.

And what a trip that turned out to be.

Delloso likes to say that you are who you really are when no one else is around. That's another piece of her core message to youngsters.

On that day at that tournament, there were "about seven people in the stands," she said. But one just happened to be the father of Gretchen Koenig, already a standout softball player at South Carolina.

Two days later, Delloso went on a recruiting trip to the school.

"My life leaped," she said. "It wasn't Arizona or Arizona State, but I knew it was my path."

This time, it felt right, and her heart tugged.

There was just one thing. She wouldn't be playing shortstop for the Gamecocks but second base. And she wouldn't get a full scholarship. Delloso knew the team still needed a pitcher, so she accepted a partial scholarship and waitressed at another pizza place to make money.

Sacrifice and hard work were two other pillars of her message last weekend in Quakertown.

Delloso went on to become a three-time all-American at South Carolina, taking the team to the college World Series in 1989. She struck out just 13 times in 784 career at-bats and committed only one error during her senior season.

Her heart tugged again in 1994, and she earned a job playing pro baseball for the Colorado Silver Bullets, an all-female team that played against men before major-league games. Playing pro ball had always been a dream for the girl who grew up in a town of around 9,000 and was told when she was 12 that baseball wasn't an option for girls.

From there, Delloso moved on to become endorsed by Nike and visit Boys and Girls Clubs of America to meet and inspire youngsters to achieve. Every time she picked up the microphone to speak, she could feel her heart tug. She knew what she wanted to do.

So, even as she worked as a marketer for companies such as Louisville Slugger, Nike, and Adidas, she found ways to be part of inspirational programs or build her own initiatives.

The first women's softball player to have her name on a bat and a 2004 inductee into the National Softball Association Hall of Fame, Delloso created the Go Girl Futures program to inspire female athletes and the Rim to Rim Club to help hikers trek across the Grand Canyon.

She also recently helped broker an unprecedented six-year, $1 million National Pro Fastpitch contract for pitcher Monica Abbott.

"They play for passion, do this for passion, and most [players] are making sacrifices to do it," NPF commissioner Cheri Kempf said of activists like Delloso. "They do it because they really embrace the aspect of being a pioneer and cementing women's pro sports for the next generation. The grassroots connection is very important to our players."

It's important to Delloso, too. She said that, more than titles or labels, she cares about empowerment, encouragement, and the fostering of community that comes with sports.

So, last weekend, she told stories about the sacrifices of her parents, John and Nancy; about a glove major-leaguer Scott Brosius gave her; about the time she squat-lifted 340 pounds.

And the current players said their hearts tugged, too.

"We are such a small town, and people don't always have high hopes for Quakertown," senior shortstop Meghan Klee said. "It's nice knowing if you work hard enough, it is possible to do well."

"She committed to sports. Nothing else mattered," senior second baseman Spenser Gray said. "I'm the same exact way. It was cool to see a perspective like that."

A boy about 10 or 11 walked into Strayer Auditorium and surveyed the room last Saturday.

"Let's get a front-row seat," he said.

A day before, at the Pennridge-Quakertown Area Sports Hall of Fame banquet, a woman Delloso didn't know introduced herself after hearing Delloso speak for just nine minutes.

"I wish you all the best," the woman said.

"Thank you for coming back," a man said moments later.

"You really do a great job," another man said.

Everywhere Delloso went, whether it was a Quakertown Little League game or sitting at a table signing copies of her book, Brand-Loyal, stories and smiles and attention followed her.

And she paid that attention right back.

"I wanted to launch the book here," she said inside the auditorium. "This is family. I love where I come from."

Delloso was home.

And, home, it was obvious, was happy to have her.