Three years ago, Livi Abney came to the Free State High library for a special event.

Her sister, Lauren, was signing a letter of intent to throw javelin for the University of Kentucky.

Friday, it was Livi’s turn.

“I knew at that moment that it was going to happen to me,” Abney said of her sister’s signing three years ago. “I was going to do all I could to get this moment.”

A crowd of about 100 friends and family jammed into the small sitting area at the library to watch Abney sign a letter of intent to play softball at the University of Wisconsin.

“I loved the coaches, and I clicked a lot with the team,” Abney said. “That was probably the deciding factor, just the connection since I will be with them for four years.”

Signing the letter of intent did not register for Abney until she looked out into the crowd at the library and saw some with tears.

Firebirds coach Pam Pine spoke briefly before Abney took the pen, and it was clear that Pine would miss Abney.

“I think it is a joy to have a kind of talent that she brings to our team, and it is kind of a contagious thing,” Pine said. “Everyone wants to follow and do well and be supportive of her. She is a competitor, and she wants to win. I don’t know if I had a lot to do with it because I think Livi is a natural person that does well.”

Free State second baseman LIVI abney tosses the ball to first for an out last season. Abney signed a letter of intent Friday to play softball at Wisconsin.

Pine told the coaches at Wisconsin that they could not go wrong in recruiting Abney.

“She worked really hard to get better and to know the game better,” Pine said. “I think she will do a really good job at the University of Wisconsin.”

Now that the recruiting process is over for Abney, one would think that the pressure would be off, but it isn’t.

“It was a lot of pressure trying to get recruited, but now I think it is more pressure to live up with it,” Abney said. “I think I will be all right. I just need to be mentally tough.”

Abney is the Firebirds’ star second baseman and was a first-team all Sunflower League selection last season.

Abney’s father, Steve, went with Livi on her official recruiting visit to Wisconsin and was blown away.

“I felt that the support base academically, athletically and the facilities are one of the top four in the country,” Steve Abney, a former pitching coach at Kansas University, said. “I have been to a lot of schools that are pretty nice, but that was as good as it gets.”

Her father knows how hard she worked in the offseasons to make it possible for her to play Division I softball.

“When other guys were out having fun, she was hitting,” Steve Abney said. “We are happy for her. When you get exposed to a high level, you have to perform, and she did it.”