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Bulldogs’ braintrust
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Poland High softball coach Reid Lamport, left, and assistant coach Dom DeLuca talk with senior Nicole White during Tuesday’s practice. Thursday, the Bulldogs play New Concord John Glenn in a state semifi nal game in Akron.
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Al Cozart has been an assistant coach for the Poland High softball team for 19 seasons.
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Megan Hirschbeck
Reid Lamport and staff have Poland state bound again
By TOM WILLIAMS
POLAND
Poland High softball coach Reid Lamport says guiding his second team to the state tournament is “very cool, it’s rewarding.”
In his 21 years leading the Bulldogs, Lamport’s teams have made 15 regional appearances.
“There’s been a number of years where we were one hit away from being in the final four so many times,” Lamport said. “I can’t tell you how many one-run games we lost in regional championship games.”
Thursday at 12:30 p.m., Poland (29-1) will play New Concord John Glenn (27-3) in the Division II state semifinals at Firestone Stadium in Akron. The championship game will be played there on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Motivating Lamport, whose career record is 472-110, is the Bulldogs’ state trip in 2001 where Poland defeated Richmond Edison, 7-6, in the semifinal.
“It was a barnburner and we had to come back to win it,” Lamport said. “Our pitcher didn’t have a real good day that day but our hitters did.”
The next day, Lima Bath needed 11 innings to defeat Poland, 1-0.
Lamport coached daughters Katie and Jessie who went on to play in college. His son, Reid, played baseball for Kent State. Anyone would have understood his giving up coaching to watch them play but Lamport says it wasn’t a tough call to stay in the Poland dugout.
“I just enjoy this game so much that I wanted to stay a part of it,” Lamport said. “It was something I definitely wanted to hang on to. My wife [Michele] encouraged me.”
His players are glad.
“He’s a great coach, he’s always there to help us out, he never puts anybody down,” senior first baseman Nicole White said.
Junior outfielder Adriana Sikora added, “He prepares us really well. Also, he encourages us all the time, he’ll stay after practice for you. He’s really [always] there for you all around.”
Senior catcher Megan Hirschbeck said, “I think it’s really nice for this group of girls that we’re getting to take him back to state, just because we’ve grown so close as a team and our coaches. It’s like we’re one big family.”
Lamport credits assistants Al Cozart and Dom DeLuca for the program’s success.
DeLuca has been with the team for three seasons and works with Hirschbeck to call pitches.
“Working [mostly] with Erin [Gabriel], I’ve gone to calling the pitches on my own,” Hirschbeck said. “It sounds funny but we kind of know what each other is thinking and I’ve gotten to know where to put pitches. It’s not as easy for other coaches to get our signals.
“It’s really nice his being confident enough in me to allow me them. If he disagrees, he calls my name and can always change the call.”
Cozart has been Lamport’s assistant for 19 seasons and brings humor.
“We bounce things off each other all the time, we complement each other well,” Lamport said. “He’s an honest guy, tells me exactly what he thinks. He doesn’t say things just to appease me and that’s what you need out of an assistant coach.
“The girls love to kid him, he tells the same jokes over and over,” Lamport said. “He keeps things loose, too, which is good. You get a game like [the state semifinal] and he’ll probably say something goofy and get the girls to relax a little bit.”
Cozart handles the outfielders while Lamport coaches the infield. Both share hitting responsibilities. They feel the time to coach is before the game begins.
“Al has finally convinced me that you don’t coach during the games, you coach in practice and you let them play the game,” Lamport said. “So I’ve worked real hard to keep my mouth shut during the game and just the let the girls be the athletes they’ve become.”