Sometimes even the littlest, most vulnerable person can overcome all odds -- becoming a Division I pitcher, a good student and a healthy, vibrant woman with a great fastball.

A tiny beginning

Robyn Kendall was only five months into her pregnancy when something went wrong. She acquired a virus of some sort, and the baby came early -- really early. A typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, and little Amanda Hope Kendall arrived at 28 weeks, well before her scheduled time.

Only two pounds at birth, Amanda Kendall dropped to one pound, 11 ounces shortly thereafter. Her mother got to see her only briefly before doctors and nurses spirited her off for emergency care. It was a long three days before they got to see her again.

"My mom said when they first came in to see me I stopped breathing," Amanda said. "That must have been scary for them."

Her parents named her "Amanda" after a character on the soap opera "Another World" who was born two months early. Things usually turn out well for the soap-opera set, so it seemed like a good idea. Her middle name, "Hope," was a no-brainer choice at the time.

"I used to not like my middle name because kids used to make fun of me when I told them," Amanda said. "But now, since I've talked to my mom (about my birth) I understand the reason behind it. Hope was all they had when I was born."

But her parents came to see her every day, and they noticed something early on.

"She was a fighter from the beginning," Robyn Kendall said. "Thom and I call Amanda our miracle baby."

After two months in the hospital, on a New Year's Eve her parents will never forget, little Amanda Kendall got to come home.

She weighed only four pounds, and she wore a stocking the hospital staff had made for her. Amanda was so incredibly tiny that "preemie" clothes didn't fit her. Her parents dressed her in doll clothes for several months, until she was finally big enough for preemie and newborn sizes.

Her head was the size of a tangerine, and her father could cup her entire body in his palm, leaving her feet to dangle around his wrist.

And how do you bathe someone so small? Why, in a Cool Whip container, of course. That family story became the stuff of legend, eventually leading to Amanda's nickname: "Cool Whip."

Because Amanda had beaten the odds so far, she became part of a study on premature babies. Her early life was filled with all kids of doctors and specialists.

It was another minor miracle when Amanda began to walk at 17 months. Though her older sister, Deyon, had walked at nine months, no one was sure if Amanda would walk at all. First she had to have surgery to lengthen one of her Achilles tendons. Then she had to have braces on her legs.

But walk little Amanda did. Then the doctors began redrawing the line of what could not be done. They said Amanda's motor-development skills were hampered by her early brain damage. She would likely be uncoordinated and any athletics aspirations were out of the question. Funny, nobody asked Amanda about that.

Amanda said she remembers many of the negative comments made about her, even though she was very young. "Prove them wrong" became her mantra.

Amanda's parents kept her spirits up, and they told her that she could do anything she set her mind to.

A love of softball

At age five, Amanda watched with envy as her nine-year-old sister began to take an intense interest in softball. Amanda thought she could do it too, and she asked her parents about it.

"I was hesitant at first to let her play," Robyn Kendall said. "I didn't want to see her struggle."

But everything was a struggle. It was a constant chore for Amanda to do things. It took an unceasing resolve and a tremendous amount of determination.

As Amanda became more involved in softball, she decided she wanted to pitch, a position that takes a great deal of coordination.

"Watching my sister Deyon made me want to be a pitcher -- just like my big sister," Amanda said.

Her never-say-die attitude, along with her work ethic and a little help from home, made her a top-notch pitcher.

"My dad would work with me for hours. He was really tough on me and made me a better player," she said.

When Amanda was 11, she began playing softball for an all-star league. The tiny little girl had become a dominant force on the pitching mound.

"Kids were afraid to step into the batter's box to face her because she threw so hard," her mom recalled. The kids also couldn't believe that hard and fast throw came from someone so small.

With more help from her dad and also from her pitching coach, Mitch Harder, she continued to develop as a pitcher. She eventually grew to 5-5, not a measurement that would ensure a WNBA career, but one that was a long way from where she had come as a little baby, tucked into a Cool Whip tub.

And when the scholarship offer from Middle Tennessee State came, Amanda knew she had arrived. The little girl who had been told by all the experts that she probably couldn't walk, couldn't run, couldn't participate in sports at all, had been offered a scholarship to play Division I softball.

"The scholarship from Middle Tennessee was so exciting for Amanda," Robyn Kendall said. "It showed that hard work and determination paid off and that someone had the same confidence in Amanda that we did."

"I remember those who told me I couldn't do certain things, and I refused to listen," she said. "No one knows who a person is deep inside, or what they can do, and I don't think anyone should try to hamper that."

In Amanda's freshman year, she made 32 appearances and had a record of 14-12, an earned-run average of 2.15 and 71 strikeouts. Her sophomore year she was slowed by shoulder surgery and had to take a medical redshirt.

In 2000, Amanda was a part of one of the biggest wins in Lady Raiders softball history. She took the mound against then-No. 24 Texas A&M University, College Station, and shocked the Aggies, leading her team to a 4-3 victory and recording five strikeouts.

"I know it was a big game for Middle Tennessee, but to me it was just a win," she said. "I treat every game the same, no matter the opponent, and play each one like it might be my last."

Kendall will wrap up her college career this year, and first-year Lady Raiders softball coach Cindy Connelley is already impressed with her attitude.

"Amanda never talks about what she can't do, but focuses on what she can," Connelley said. "I think that is a major key to success in athletics and in life."

Sounds like Amanda's successes are just starting.