SAN MARCOS, Texas — It didn't take Ricci Woodard long to realize Jessica Spring was special. 

Spring, after graduating from Edna High School, walked onto the then-Southwest Texas softball program in 2000; the year before Woodard took the reins of the Bobcat program. 

One season. One adventure through the softball season. That's all the time Woodard needed. She rewarded Spring with a scholarship before her junior season. 

"I remember the day Coach Woodard put me on scholarship, I was crying," Spring told the San Marcos Daily Record's Jason Gordon in 2003. "I called my mom, and she was crying. I'm so grateful to everything coach has given me. She's made me a better person.

"Coach tells me that people like me are hard to find. People that don't get much playing time, but still come out fired up are a rarity." 

Spring used that energy and those unteachable intangibles every day. They helped lay the path for her post-college career: becoming a coach. 

"I know when I become a coach, there will be a player like me," Spring said in April 2003. "And I know I can tell them how important they are."

Spring went on to do that. And so much more. She got married. She passed down her love for the game to younger generations of softball players. She lived. 

Even when Spring got sick, she stayed true to herself. She was a winner during her time in San Marcos. And she won, again, later in life when she beat cancer. 

Unfortunately, it returned. Jessica Spring passed away over the weekend.  

"Jessica Spring is the epitome of a team player," said Texas State head coach Ricci Woodard. "She's always trying to keep the competitive fire going in her teammates and she's pumping them up with her emotion. That's what makes her special."

Spring witnessed 172 victories on the softball diamond over a four-year span. She saw Texas State Southwest Texas win back-to-back Southland Conference Championships and two NCAA Regional appearance under then-rookie head coach Ricci Woodard. She displayed a true love of the game every day she took the field. 

And now, Jessica Spring will have the luxury of continuing to watch as that once novice head coach leads the next generation of softball student-athletes from the locker rooms to the dugout and up a handful of stairs onto the field at Bobcat Stadium. 

And they'll all do so with a little Spring in their step. 

There will be a Visitation on Saturday, Oct. 23 beginning at 9:30 a.m., followed by a Celebration of Life Service at 11 a.m. at the Edna High School Auditorium at 1303 W. Gayle St., Edna, TX 77957.

In lieu of lowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions be made to The Jessica Spring Memorial Scholarship Fund, C/O Edna High School 1303 W. Gayle St. Edna, TX 77957.

The Texas State softball program will celebrate Jessica Spring's life and spirit during its Alumni Weekend, November 12-13. T-Shirts honoring Spring will be available. (Contact softball assistant coach Paige McDuffee for more information: pnm26@txstate.edu.)