Tatum’s Camryn Milam, center, signed a national letter of intent on Wednesday to play softball at Kilgore College. (Jack Stallard/Longview News-Journal)

TATUM — I’m a sucker for a good comeback story, so when Lesley Milam invited me to come down on Wednesday and cover a scholarship signing ceremony involving her daughter, Camryn, I jumped at the chance.

It didn’t hurt that Lesley and her family obviously paid attention in “How to get a sports writer to your event” class and promised cookies would be available.

I can’t be bought, but I’m not ashamed to admit I can be rented for cookies and coffee. Truth is, though, I would have assigned myself this story even without the cookies.

I’ve been keeping up with Camryn since she slugged her way onto the local softball scene as a freshman back in 2022 by hitting .423 with four home runs, five triples, five doubles, 32 RBI and 29 runs scored.

She improved her batting average to .431 as a sophomore, launching four more home runs and driving in 22, and was well on her way to another solid season a year ago as a junior — hitting .500 with three doubles in eight games — before wrecking her knee in a Feb. 20 game against Grand Saline.

Camryn tore her anterior cruciate ligament. The ACL — in very non-scientific terms because I was absent or not paying attention the day we discussed such things in anatomy class — is one of the bands of tissue that holds the bones together within the knee.

The only three letters I know that generate as much fear or dislike as the IRS are ACL.

Camryn’s junior season was over before it really started, and a kid who watched her big brother sign a baseball scholarship three years ago and made up her mind she wanted to do the same for softball now faced an uncertain future as an athlete.

That’s when Camryn did what she’s done her entire life.

She fought.

Surgery to repair her knee came March 7, which gave her less than a year to recover if she wanted to play for the Tatum Lady Eagles as a senior.

I’ve seen videos of her rehab and workouts, and I remember thinking adversity picked the wrong kid to mess with. I had no idea how right I was until her dad got up and spoke at her signing ceremony Wednesday.

“She weighed 3 pounds,” Brandon Milam said as his voice cracked and he held out one hand to signify how he held Camryn when she was born.

What chance does a torn ACL have against a kid who beat those kinds of odds?

That, by the way, is the kind of kid second-year Kilgore College softball coach Amber Williams wants as she builds her program. She gave Camryn hitting lessons several years back and saw the Tatum slugger’s athletic potential and love of the game, so even with the bad knee, Williams offered Camryn a scholarship this past summer.

And on Wednesday, in front of family, friends, classmates, teammates and coaches, Camryn’s dream of playing softball at the next level took a big step in the right direction when she signed a national letter of intent with Kilgore College.

I once got in the face of a man who questioned why the newspapers make a big deal out of all of these kids signing scholarships because — in his words — “most of those kids don’t even make it.”

He’s right, of course, if we’re only thinking about athletes who advance to the highest level of their sport. I’ve probably covered 500 scholarship signings in my 39-year career as a sports writer, and maybe 50 of those athletes have gone on to play professional sports.

But a huge percentage of those kids got their education and put it to use making the world a better place — even for grouchy old men — so don’t tell me they didn’t make it.

And, by the way, I’ve seen Camryn Milam swing a bat, so I dare someone to tell her Wednesday wasn’t a big deal.