"Wally" (2/3)

 

To stay in chronological order of events, I must, at this point, divert my narrative from the subject of sports... and mention a single conversation that Tara and I had when she was in the sixth grade, the content and context of which would have much more meaning years later.

We were in the car, running some errands, just Tara and me. We were discussing the fact that she was in her seventh year of school and had never missed a single day. Not one! This was an amazing feat and I told her so. I also told her that the chances of continuing this streak through graduation were slim and none.

“What would you do if I actually did graduate with 13 years of perfect attendance?” She inquired.

“I’d buy you a new car!” I answered impulsively yet with clear confidence that I would never have to grapple with that issue.

It was a throwaway conversation and one that I quickly forgot.

Tara played all the sports through junior high... volleyball, basketball and softball... and excelled at them all but softball was her passion. I put together a travel softball team after Tara’s 5th grade year and we began to travel the state of Iowa with that group over the next few years. It was a rough go at first but once the girls got their footing, we started to compete at a very high level.

One of the very unique features of Iowa high school softball is that they play their school season in the summer... after the school year has been completed. No other state does this. So, it is possible for Iowa girls to have five years of high school softball... because once you graduate 8th grade, you are eligible to play for the high school team. Not every school in Iowa chooses to allow 8th graders into the high school softball program and some allow it on a limited basis.

After Tara’s 8th grade year, she tried out for the high school program and along with a handful of other 8th graders, she was selected to play in the program. The 8th graders were earmarked to play on the freshman team... and maybe on the junior varsity team. I was totally fine with that and never really gave much thought to her playing varsity as an 8th grader.

The first week of competition came and went with Tara playing on both the freshman and JV team. She pitched in a couple of those games and could not have thrown any better. All early indications gave me great confidence in a fun season.

Grinnell’s varsity team traveled to Williamsburg after the first week of the season to play in the first Saturday tournament. To my surprise and delight, the coach asked Tara to dress varsity for the first time. I traveled to the tournament with my lawn chair and cooler... with zero expectation of Tara’s playing time. I was just happy that she had a chance to wear a varsity uniform and rub elbows with the upperclassmen.

Tara sat the bench for game one and again... I had no problem with that. At the conclusion of game one, Tara came over to me, wide-eyed and nervous... to tell me that she was pitching game two. Now... it was my turn to be nervous.

Life is all about taking advantage of the opportunities afforded you and that’s what Tara did on that Saturday afternoon. She pitched five innings of shutout ball and went 3 for 3 at the plate with two doubles. She started at second base for the third game and that became her home for the rest of her softball career.

That was such a fun season... for many reasons that I will explain later... but, there was also an unpleasant aspect to the situation. That first week of the regular season, when Tara was playing with the freshmen and JV teams, a couple 11th graders were rotating at 2nd base for the varsity squad. With Tara’s impressive performance at the Williamsburg tournament, the varsity coach wanted a larger sampling of her playing ability and started her at 2nd base for the next few games. Tara did not disappoint. Her defense, her quickness, her bat and the savvy with which she played was nothing short of outstanding. She had found a home and everyone seemed thrilled about the youngster... except the two sets of parents of the juniors who Tara had replaced at second base.

When it started to become apparent that Tara had earned the spot as the varsity starting 2nd baseman, the parents of the players she replaced were having none of it. They cornered the coach after one game and with no filter, let her have it for having the audacity to play an 8th grader over their daughters. The coach did her best to explain her motivation... which was to put the very best team on the field and win every game possible. The angry parents thought seniority was the more important criteria. To her credit, the coach stuck to her guns despite enduring several more post-game tirades.

Over the course of that season, several more 8th and 9th graders made their way to the varsity squad. These were the girls that had played for several years on our travel team and they were showing the experience and skill-sets they had developed on the tournament circuit. Along with a solid core of upperclassmen, the youngsters who had climbed to the varsity level, seemed to breathe new life into the team... and the Tigers starting to reel off win after win.

Every high school softball team in Iowa starts the season with the goal of making it to the state tournament. This is a worthy... but an almost impossible objective as only 8 teams in the state from each division make it to the softball complex in Fort Dodge, Iowa... the home of The Iowa High School Girls Softball State Tournament.

The Grinnell High School girls softball team had never made it to the State Tournament... ever. But as the playoffs began that summer in 1997, the team was riding the crest of momentum and optimism... which paid off as they captured the district title followed by the regional championship which thrust them into the State Tournament for the first time in program history.

I will never forget the pride I felt, looking at the girls as they took the field in the first game of the State Tournament with 5 starters who were either 8th or 9th graders. The work they had put in with our travel team during the 3 previous years along with being coached up by the varsity coach was now very apparent.

The team didn’t win the state championship but it did give the girls the sweet taste of success and the confidence that they belonged with the elite teams of the state. At the conclusion of the tournament, the directors and coaches named the All-Tournament team and I was bursting with pride when I heard Tara’s name announced.

The 5 foot, 1 inch little 8th grade dynamo, whom the coach had nicknamed “Little One” for her small stature as well as the number on her jersey, was not only named to the All-Tournament Team at State... but was also honored as a First Team All Conference player in the Little Hawkeye Conference.

Tara racked up quite the high school softball resumé as she played in every varsity game after the first week of her 8th grade year. The team made it to the State Tournament 3 of her 5 years and she was honored with her second All-Tournament Team selection during her senior State Tournament. The two seasons they failed to make it to state, they lost close games in the regional finals... the game that thrusts the winning teams into the State Tournament. Also, of note, Tara was selected First Team All-Conference in each of her 5 seasons for the Grinnell Tigers.

 

To be continued…