Florida State softball shortstop thrives on the field, pursues firefighting career off

Josie Muffley jokes a dark cloud follows her wherever she goes.

Since last season's 2022 NCAA Softball Regional in Tallahassee, that's not the only thing following her.

Over the left field wall at JoAnne Graf Field, which has earned the nickname 'Area 51' due to the home runs from catcher Michaela Edenfield, sits a firetruck at most (if not all) Florida State softball games.

The firetruck represents Tallahassee Fire Station #1 located at 327 N Adams St. And the station's firefighters are there to watch the Seminoles' shortstop, a frequent ride-along partner on calls.

The first appearance was during a contest between Mississippi State and Florida State during the NCAA Regional.

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"I had no idea (they were coming)," Muffley told the Democrat. "They did it on their own. They wanted to come out and show their support for the community. I was like, 'Hey, that's pretty cool.'

"So then, obviously, I also built that bond and connection with them."

Muffley, who has an interest in being a firefighter in the future, said she had spent time volunteering at FireStation No. 1, as well as No. 2 and a few others in town.

Right now she is focused on finishing school and helping FSU softball. Muffley is hitting .273 for the Seminoles as a redshirt senior, though her average rises to .367 with runners in scoring position.

She also continues to be a highlight reel making big plays at shortstop, all while the local fire department supports her.

"Seeing them out there and supporting us as females is such a cool experience," Muffley said. "And it just shows you what FSU is about in Tallahassee and the community and family behind it."

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The dark cloud; Muffley's future career

While FSU fans won't ever complain about what Muffley brings to the field, she jokingly said that bad luck does seem to follow her off the field.

"Bad things happen all the time," Muffley said. "I could be on the road driving and an accident will happen behind me. Or, for example, I was in Sam's Club, and someone had a heart attack right in front of me. And I was like, 'I was just trying to get some food and some eggs and milk.'"

Muffley said her interest in wanting to do something in the medical field began while watching "Trauma: Life in the E.R." on television with her mother.

Being from Portage, Michigan, she played hockey when she was younger. A neck injury during her sophomore season of high school helped change her course to playing softball, which she started playing as a junior.

The rest is history.

But on the hockey team, she had a couple of teammates whose fathers were firefighters.

"I think it was freshman year of high school, I started doing ridealongs back in Michigan," Muffley said. "I got to see some pretty good calls, some pretty scary calls. I got to see a little of what they see almost every single day. And I just knew right then and there that was my calling in life.

"I really strive and am driven to help people no matter where it's at. And sometimes the black cloud follows me. So a lot of helping when that happens."

Muffley said it did not take long for the black cloud to follow, on just her second call she had one of her wildest experiences.

"I was like just kind of getting into the love of being a firefighter and we go on to a head-on collision on the highway," Muffley said. "There was a wrong-way driver on the highway, head-on collision. So we go up to the driver and because I was in nursing classes then, so I was allowed to do clinical and assessment, which is not something I do here.

"It's this female driver and we ask her 'how many people are in the car?' She said, 'my husband's in the car with me.' But it was just her in the car, so you can infer from there what happened."

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Muffley's firefighting interest continues in Tallahassee

As a freshman in 2019, Muffley began her career at Tulsa. Following one season with the Golden Hurricanes, she transferred to Florida State.

Her interest remained in becoming a firefighter. She reached out to Sarah Cooksey, the spokesperson for the Tallahassee Fire Department, who got her started.

When Cooksey died in a motorcycle accident in 2021, TFD Deputy Chief Richard Jones helped Muffley get acquainted.

"(Muffley) called and we came here to FSU, we sat down and talked for two hours," Jones told the Democrat. "After that, we started a friendship, which ever since then we talk all the time and I tried to mentor and get her in the right direction.

"The fact is that we didn't choose her, she chose us."

Jones encouraged anyone else who wants to pursue a career in firefighting to contact him.

"If you're interested in a career in the fire service, contact the fire department to schedule a ridealong," Jones said. "We allowed people to come and ride on the equipment to see what it's like and we encourage that."

Muffley started being a regular at Fire Station #1 and has built a relationship with the firefighters there.

"I started with 1A and rode with them," Muffley said. "Then I was at 1B, which is where I'm in person over there (now). And then I kind of ventured out from there. Once you know, someone from one station, you kind of know everybody from other stations."

Jones said that whenever the Seminoles' softball game is on, the station has the game on.

But when there are home games, the firefighters at Station 1 are extra motivated to finish their jobs early.

"It's funny, because I'd be in the engine house, and you'll hear him say, 'Hey, we got to get all our jobs on all job, Josie's got a game, we want to go watch,'' Jones said.

"They got their job to do, they're not just abandoning that, but they get everything done in that fast manner. So they can go and support and watch, which is really cool."

Despite the firefighters making their way to watch her play, Muffley however, feels there is someone more popular than her: Ruger, her Red Fox Labrador.

"He is a well-known dog around a fire station, not just one of the stations, all of them," Muffley said with a laugh.

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Family-like atmosphere

Kristin Kline, who is the Lieutenant Paramedic of FireMed1, played college softball at the University of Tampa. She has connected with Muffley on softball and firefighting, as well as a similar family-like atmosphere.

"It's just like bus rides," Kline told the Democrat. "You're with those people for however long. You have inside jokes and outside jokes. You just sit there and you laugh around the table and you don't realize two hours have gone by you sit at the kitchen table.

"It's just like road trips are the same thing. We would argue about who sat where, who brought the stinky food and who was snoring. But then at all game time, it was all perfect."

Muffley said her entire family still resides in Michigan.

But once she graduates from FSU, she plans on taking a first responder class this summer, followed by an EMT class and then two fire classes in the spring. All of that will likely be in Tallahassee.

"It's snowing right now in Michigan, I am never going back," Muffley said with a huge grin. "They have also made it super easy to make that decision because of the family aspect of it."

"They have helped me in so many different ways, not just within the fire department, but like how to be a family and how to talk about your feelings and the mental side that also comes with it which is very important."

Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU softball: Josie Muffley's connection to Tallahassee Fire Dept.