After three surgeries, Penn’s Delaney Smith is embracing a new role as designated hitter

Delaney Smith wears a bracelet that reads “19+1.”

It signifies her getting cleared to hit 19 balls off the tee, and the one more to reach 20 seemed monumental. Eventually, Smith made it to 25 balls, then 30 as she worked her way back onto the softball field.

The Penn senior recovered from three surgeries in 2024-25. A torn meniscus in her right knee forced her to undergo surgery in May 2024. She came back but chose to have surgeries on both hips to relieve chronic pain. She had right hip surgery in October 2024, then left hip surgery in January 2025. The recovery forced her to miss her junior season. She retired from catching and now serves only as a designated hitter.

For Smith, returning to action is everything she could have hoped for.

Penn is 8-10 in the Ivy League, its most conference wins since 2022, and Smith is having a standout senior season. She leads the Quakers with a .465 batting average and has nine home runs and a 1.264 OPS.

“I keep trying to remind myself every single week that even if I did horrible for the rest of the season, it is just so cool that I came back,” Smith said. “That’s been my biggest reminder, to just be so proud of myself for how far I’ve come, and at the end of the day, it’s just about my story of coming back and less about the numbers and the accolades and all that stuff.
I’m trying to have fun as much as possible.”

Smith struggled with hip pain throughout her softball career. She was a catcher, which put constant pressure on her hips to the point where the pain became excruciating. The graduate of Manheim Township High in Lancaster County had a strong sophomore season at Penn, batting .267 after hitting .177 as a freshman in 2023.

She suffered her knee injury while catching and underwent surgery at the end of the 2024 season, but she was on track to return for her junior year. As she worked her way back, Smith realized how bad her hips hurt after being out of commission. She made the difficult decision to have double hip surgeries.

While she was sitting out for the season, Smith decided to start a Penn chapter of Morgan’s Message, an organization that focuses on student-athlete mental health.

“I was definitely feeling really isolated and alone,” Smith said. “I knew that there’s other people that are injured that feel this way, but also just in general, mental health is not talked about enough. So I brought over the club and we started it last year. I think it was initially 20 people, and then we’ve gotten it to 80 people and it’s pretty much half boys, half girls. I’m really, really proud of it.”

Smith used Morgan’s Message and her family for support to get through three surgeries. She had to spend much of her time immobilized, but she tried to remain positive around her team and bring good energy.

Smith returned as a full-time designated hitter. She was excited in her first at-bat in the season opener and ended up drawing a walk to help calm her nerves.

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“I miss catching more than anything,” Smith said. “But I am grateful to still have hitting. My first weekend, I remember I could hear my teammates in the dugout so loud, just so happy that I was even up there.”

All Smith has done since then is hit.

She has turned into one of the best hitters in the Ivy League, ranking in the top 10 in the conference in batting average (.483), OPS (1.329), home runs (nine), and RBIs (36) in Ivy games. She has walked 14 times compared to 11 strikeouts.

While she has put up strong numbers, her presence on the team and her attitude have had just as much of an impact.

“On top of her ability to change the game with a swing, I think Delaney’s confidence and momentum and ability to create some energy for us on the bench is really awesome,” said Penn coach Christie Novatin. “It has done wonders for this team.”

With the regular-season series at Brown remaining, starting on Friday, Smith’s return has helped put the Quakers in position to potentially qualify for the double-elimination Ivy League tournament for the first time since it started in 2022.

The top four teams make the tournament, and the Quakers are in fifth place.

Whether Penn qualifies or not, Smith’s attitude won’t change. After going through three surgeries in a year, she’s focused on enjoying her final season on the diamond.

“I remember last year, watching the game, sitting in the dugout and being in so much pain,” Smith said. “I was sitting there, questioning if I could even come back and play next year. I remember those moments and I think that’s what honestly pushes me even more to have fun and to enjoy myself. Because I’ve been there and I’ve been through the hard [process] and now this is the easy process.”