News-Sentinel.com

Daring to dream

Eastside's girls softball team challenged for a state title.

By Kevin Kilbane of The News-Sentinel



News-Sentinel photo
Tough competitionEastside High School softball players cheer on their teammates in an early-season game against Northrop.

The pulsing beat of hip-hop music blasts from speakers outside the press box at Northrop High School's girls' softball diamond. Sunlight pours from blue skies on this unseasonably warm, early April afternoon.

"Dare to dream!" players from Eastside High School shout as they take to the field for pre-game infield practice.

Balls smack into gloves as the Lady Blazers rocket throws from outfield to home plate or from third base to second base to first base and back around again. Players from Northrop, one of the area's perennial softball powers, talk and joke around in their dugout. But soon they are staring in wary silence.

They realize they face a team that came to win.

* * *

New opportunities

Thirty years ago Sunday, the federal Title IX law opened up new opportunities in the world of sports to women. At high schools and colleges around the country, more young women discovered the butterflies of anticipation and camaraderie of team sports. They experienced the joy of victory and the thrill of etching their names in the record books.

It is an opportunity they have relished at schools such as Eastside High School.

"I try to pass on the tradition," Eastside head coach Aaron Willard explained.

The DeKalb County school fielded its first girls softball team in 1988. It didn't take long to achieve success.

The 1995 Lady Blazers rolled to a 27-2 record, losing 1-0 in the state tournament's semistate championship game. They reached the semi-state round again the following year.

Two years later, the 1998 team swept to a 32-1 record and the small-school, Class-A state title. Eastside battled back to the state-championship round again last year before losing.

The championship season remains fresh in the minds of many of this year's players and their fans in Butler, a town of 2,700.

"It (a state championship) doesn't happen very often in a small town," explained Jeff Jones, sports editor of the Butler Bulletin, the town's weekly newspaper.

Each spring, pursuit of that dream draws parents, classmates and families of former players to pack the bleachers at the Lady Blazers' games -- even in rain or near-freezing temperatures.

"This is the one everybody follows," Jones said.

Each year, Willard tries to keep his players focused on a championship with a team slogan. This season's was "Dare to dream."

But coach and fans alike didn't know what to expect this year when practice began Feb. 18. Willard had lost the previous season's pitching ace and three other key players to graduation. But when freshman Lauren Ward struck out 18 batters in Eastside's opening game, the state championship dream came alive again.

* * *

'We all want rings'

There is nothing soft about the way Eastside plays the game.

Ward whips the 12-inch-circumference, hard-core ball toward home plate at speeds of 60 mph. Because softball pitchers stand 40 feet from home plate -- 20 feet closer than in baseball -- batters are seeing the equivalent of a 90-mph baseball fastball, Willard said.

At the plate, senior Amy Freidenberger and junior Jenna Yoder blast line drives into the outfield. Other players bunt to move base runners toward a score. Some slide into base to beat attempts to throw them out on a steal.

In the field, sophomore infielders Ashley Murphy, April Cory and Heather Mitchell, who took over for injured senior Joyln Thorp at third base, dig ground balls out of the dirt and rifle throws to first base for the out.

Even in the dugout, most players sit or stand by the dugout fence, studying the action and encouraging their teammates.

"To be the best we can be, we all have to be in it," catcher Becky Comment explained.

Comment said she and the five other seniors stress to underclassmen that this team has the potential to win it all, and they have to stay focused on that dream.

"We have a great shot at getting a ring, and we all want rings," Comment said.

Willard is just as focused.

While his team is in the field, he parks himself on a plastic equipment box in a front corner of Eastside's dugout. He calls out encouragement to his young pitcher. In big games and against opponents' key hitters, he also uses hand signals to tell his catcher what pitch to call and where to target it in the batter's strike zone.

"I still have that passion," he said. "I love the games. I love the competition."

* * *

An inferior playing field

"C'mon, D! C'mon, D!" Willard yells to the Lady Blazers' defense as a player from Lima Bath High School prepares to step into the batter's box.

Last year's Ohio Division II state champs have driven to Butler on this Saturday in early May to play in the Eastside Classic softball tournament. Teams from Snider and Carroll high schools battle on a diamond in adjacent Maxton's Park.

Eastside's softball diamond sits at the very back of the school property. Unlike the boys' baseball diamond 200 yards closer to school, the softball field has no press box, lights or concession stand. The lack of amenities hasn't gone unnoticed by Willard's players.

"It would be nice to have somebody announce our names and to play the national anthem," first baseman Freidenberger said.

The Lady Blazers encounter varying degrees of equality as they travel to play games at other schools. The softball and baseball diamonds are virtually identical, for example, at Northrop and Heritage Junior-Senior high schools. At Fremont High School, both baseball and softball diamonds have lights, a press box and concessions. But the boys' field is behind the high school and the girls' diamond is located about a quarter-mile away in Vistula Park.

In Butler, school leaders hope to mobilize community support for a building campaign that would address some of DeKalb Eastern School Corp.'s facilities' needs, said Willard, who also serves as an assistant principal and as athletic director at Eastside.

"As an athletic director, I realize our community is trying to do something about it," he added. "As the softball coach, I wish we had it."

Willard strives for equality in areas of athletics that he can control.

"If boys basketball gets to buy something, I usually try to give girls basketball the same opportunity," he said.

But when the umpire yells, "Batter up!" Eastside players have only one thing on their minds -- the game.

This day, they hold Lima scoreless through three innings. In the fourth, the visitors load the bases on an error, a walk and an infield grounder. The next batter follows with a double, staking Lima to a 3-0 lead.

Eastside keeps Lima players and fans squirming nervously the rest of the way. The Lady Blazers put runners on base each of their next three at-bats, but come away scoreless. The seven-inning game ends on a strikeout, with two Eastside runners on base.

* * *

Eyes on the prize

The route to a state championship ring begins on a warm, sunny evening at the Class A sectional in Fremont.

Eastside has closed the regular season with a strong 22-5 overall record and an 11-0 mark in Northeast Corner Conference play. The losses, including the one to Northrop, all have been close games against highly regarded teams.

Ward has performed like a veteran on the pitcher's mound. Along with posting a 21-4 record, she finished second among area pitchers in strikeouts, with 305. She and her teammates have held opponents to an earned-run average of less than 1 run per game.

Freidenberger and Yoder both carry batting averages of about .450, ranking them among the area's top hitters.

In its opening sectional game, Eastside blasts Central Noble early to take a 3-0 lead after one inning. The Lady Blazers build the margin to 8-1 over the next two innings but then seem to lose their edge. Ward finally seals the victory by striking out the side during Central Noble's final at-bat.

Eastside starts out slowly in the sectional championship game May 24 against Lakewood Park Christian.

In the first inning, Freidenberger reaches first base on a fly to right field. Two batters later, Ward gives Eastside a 1-0 lead when she smacks a line drive past the second baseman's glove to score Freidenberger from third base.

Eastside adds one run each in the third and fourth innings. Then the offense explodes for eight runs in the sixth. Ward strikes out 16 in pitching a 1-hit shutout.

Grins light Eastside players' faces as the two teams file past each other to exchange congratulations. Eastside's six seniors also are all smiles when they step back onto the diamond to receive the sectional championship trophy.

They lift the wood-and-metal award high over their heads as the 70 or more parents and fans clap and cheer. But there is no jumping up and down, no outbursts of celebration.

This victory is just the first step, Willard reminds his team during a post-game meeting on the right-field grass. "We're going to enjoy it this weekend, and then we're going to get right after it on Tuesday."

The season comes to a premature end, however, at the state tournament regional in Whiting, northwest of Gary. Eastside wins the first game 1-0 over South Central High School. But the Lady Blazers can't push any runs across the plate in the regional championship game, and they lose 1-0 to Pioneer High School.

It is a long and quiet, three-hour bus ride home.

"It had been our goal the whole year to at least advance to the Final Four," Willard said. "So when the dream comes to end, it hurts a little bit."

But this is a young team. Several starters will return next year. Those players now have a sense of what it takes to win -- and what it means to be part of the Eastside softball tradition.

When practice begins next February in the school gym, hopes again will drift ahead to the possibility of a state championship. Like the players before them, they, too, will dare to dream.

A season to remember

Here are highlights of the Eastside High School softball team's 2001-02 regular season:

Record

NECC record: 11-0

* NECC Tourney: 3-0

* Non-conference: 8-5

* Overall: 22-5

Batting average

* Amy Freidenberger: .462

* Jenna Yoder: .450

* April Cory: .347

* Stephanie Hildebrandt: .338

Extra-base hits

* Freidenberger: 14

* Yoder: 11

* Becky Comment: 6

* Lauren Ward: 5

Pitching

* Ward: 21-4

* Strikeouts: 305

* Innings pitched: 162.2

* Earned run average: .39

Class 3A state

tournament

Fremont sectional:

* Eastside, 8; Central Noble, 1

* Eastside, 11; Lakewood Park Christian, 0

Whiting regional:

* Eastside, 1; South Central, 0

* Pioneer, 1; Eastside, 0