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Extra eyes were focused on Poland
By TOM WILLIAMS
POLAND
On its way to an amazing 30-win season that included a 25-game winning streak, the Poland High softball team attracted plenty of attention — and not just from local fans.
As the Bulldogs’ 30-2 season progressed, Coach Reid Lamport became acquainted with some of the top collegiate coaches in the nation who have shown interest in pitcher Erin Gabriel (21-1).
“We had [coaches from] the University of Washington, UCLA, Tennessee at our games.” said Lamport on Saturday after Poland’s season ended with a 1-0 loss to Hebron Lakewood in the Division II state championship game. “Missouri, Note Dame, Ohio State [also had] their head coaches flying in and watching us play.”
Because Gabriel just completed her sophomore year, college coaches were limited in contact.
“Obviously, coaches can’t call Erin so they called me,” Lamport said. “I filter as much as I can, I give her what I think she needs to know and don’t bother her with things I don’t think are that important.”
Former U.S. Olympian Lisa Fernandez, now an assistant coach for UCLA, watched one game.
Asked if she met Fernandez, senior first baseman Nicole White smiled and said, “No I didn’t get a chance to [but] I would have liked to.”
Sophomore third baseman/pitcher Jenna Modic said playing before scouts “was definitely unbelievable.
“You had some of the biggest colleges in the country coming to your games so you always wanted to play to the best of your ability,” Modic said. “We tried not to let it get in the way.”
While Gabriel led the Bulldogs with a .560 batting average, her pitching statistics were equally dazzling. In 141 innings, she allowed just five earned runs and 34 hits including one homer.
And she posted those numbers despite suffering a stress fracture on her pitching arm about a month ago.
Lamport did his best not to make the extra attention a distraction and he said that Gabriel’s demeanor gave him an assist.
“She has a tremendous perspective on all of it,” Lamport said. “There are girls on our team who don’t even know who she is talking to, which is amazing because she doesn’t let them know.”
Gabriel said the scouting began last season.
“They just showed up at our games this year,” said Gabriel who has an offer from UCLA and probably others she’s keeping to herself. “I have to make a decision pretty soon.”
Asked if she’s leaning to a particular school, Gabriel said, “I honestly couldn’t even tell you because ... this season has been going on and I didn’t want to think about it.”
Gabriel is one of 42 players in the nation who have been invited to try out for the Junior National Olympic Team.
“It was really interesting,” senior catcher Megan Hirschbeck said. “It was such an experience to get to catch Erin the past two years because she’s going to go on to do much bigger and better things in college.”
The Bulldogs swept their All-American Conference Red Tier schedule and posted four shutouts in seven postseason games. They finished with 21 shutouts. Their regular-season loss was to Division I Pickerington Central.
“It’s tough at this time to not make it about one game, you want to make it about one season,” Lamport said. “That time will come.
“From the moment they stepped on the field [in] day one this year, they had one goal and that was to win a state championship,” Lamport said. “They worked very hard. They committed, they dedicated themselves, they did whatever they needed to do to get to this point. Unfortunately we fell just short.”
The Bulldogs lose five seniors to graduation but will return six starters. Also graduating are second baseman Jessica D’Apolito, center fielder Jordan Palumbo and Alexys Shields.
After coming so close to Poland’s first state softball championship, Lamport said, “You don’t always get what you think you deserve, but that’s just part of life.
“If today is the worst thing that is going to happen to my girls out there in their life, then they’re going to be just fine,” the 21-year coach said. “We’ll find out how successful this season has been, this team is, 15 years down the road when these girls are mothers and wives and ... in the workplace.
“That’s really the measurement of success and so my prayer is that they are able to pull something from times like this, when times get tough in their lives and just reach back and say, ‘you know what? We’re going to weather this. We’ve been there before and we’re going to do it again.’”