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Canfield’s Tinkey excels in competition & classroom
Tinkey excels on diamond, on court & in classroom
By Tom Williams
You have to look far and wide to find an athlete as talented, gracious, intelligent and respectful as Canfield High School graduate Rachel Tinkey.
The Vindicator’s Female Athlete of the Year has been a leader on the court, on the diamond and in the classroom. Tinkey, who graduated with a 4.026 grade-point average, was a four-year varsity starter in basketball and softball.
They don’t come much more special than that.
Her favorite class was AP biology. She loves science classes, including AP chemistry.
“I’m a bit of a nerd,” she said.
Her opponents over the past four years might beg to differ.
Tinkey is not invincible. During a storm delay during the district softball semifinals in Alliance last month, Tinkey said she was checking her smartphone for weather alerts.
“Not a big fan of thunder and lightning,” she admitted.
One of her role models is 2012 Poland graduate Erin Gabriel, now a pitcher for the University of Tennessee softball team. It’s important to remember that the Poland-Canfield rivalry ranks right up there with Boardman-Austintown Fitch and Cardinal Mooney-Ursuline for the Mahoning Valley’s most intense.
Three seasons ago, Tinkey sought out Gabriel to congratulate her after a game.
“She was so gracious,” Tinkey said. “The way that she played the game with such grace was something I kind of took to.
“I want to model myself after someone who is humble and after someone who really plays the game right,” she said.
A four-year starter at shortstop, Tinkey can look past Cardinals-Bulldogs showdowns to find good in others, even archrivals. She baby-sits for Poland head coach Matt Campbell.
Tinkey’s varsity adventures began in the fall of 2011 when she tried out for Pat Pavlansky’s varsity basketball team. Not only did she make varsity, but she was the starting point guard on a loaded team that included Sabrina Mangapora (The Vindicator’s 2013 Female Athlete of the Year), Abby Baker and Allison Pavlansky,
Tinkey said those three, plus Paige Baker, Sarah Vrabel and Kayla Barko, helped her handle her responsibilities at such a young age.
“Those were the six who really got me through [freshman season] — always on the floor with me, always keeping me after practice [for] drills and helping me with certain situations especially through tight games.”
In her freshman and sophomore seasons, the Cardinals advanced to the Division II regional. Canfield moved up to Division I for her final two seasons.
Tinkey credits Pavlansky (her coach for three seasons), Matt Reel (Canfield’s varsity coach her senior year) and Ken Reel (her eighth grade coach) for teaching her valuable lessons.
“It was probably one of the most incredible experiences of my life,” she said of playing for and being taught by Ken Reel, who died of leukemia in 2013. “The way he taught, the way he was able to project what he meant in a way that was easily understood. It was awesome to be in his presence.
“He was calm but he had a way of being stern without raising his voice. His was just someone who could communicate effectively without being in your face. It was easy to play for him.”
As for Pavlansky and Matt Reel, she said, “They were so instrumental in teaching me the way to do things and being such a great support system.”
One of the two games she cited as most memorable came in the district final against West Branch at Fitch High. With eight seconds remaining, West Branch freshman Melinda Trimmer (who led the Warriors to the state semifinals this season and will play for Youngstown State University) made a free throw to tie the game.
Trimmer’s second attempt bounced to Vrabel who quickly passed to Tinkey. The freshman immediately fired a strike down court to Mangapora whose jump shot sent Canfield to Barberton after a 42-40 victory.
“The bank was open that day and she banked it in from the top of the key,” Tinkey said of Mangapora.
Her other standout game came in her junior season when Canfield rallied to win after trailing Green by 16 at halftime.
“They were memorable not only because we won those games but because we had to come together as a team in order to get it done,” she said.
Basketball is only part of the story. After the Cards lost to Hathaway Brown in the regional semifinal at Barberton in 2012, Tinkey reported for softball tryouts.
“I was definitely nervous because I felt a lot of other people had already got the chance to create chemistry as a team,” she said.
Ray Melewski, in his first year as Canfield’s head softball coach, recognized Tinkey’s talent immediately and put her in the anchor spot of the infield.
Canfield’s softball team won district titles in her sophomore and senior seasons. Last month, the Cards trailed Poland 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning before rallying to tie and force extra innings. Canfield won, 5-4, in eight innings.
A week later, the season ended with a 3-2 loss to Jefferson in the Division II regional semifinals in Akron.
“We had a successful season and I couldn’t be more proud of this team. These are my sisters — my family,” Tinkey said. “This group never gave up. While we fell a little short, I wouldn’t change a thing from the past four years.”
Tinkey’s next journey will be to play basketball at the University of Mount Union. Giving up softball won’t be easy.
“Until the end of my junior year, I thought softball was going to be what I played,” Tinkey said of college. “I thought I was a little bit better at it and I’ve played travel softball and had a great time with my friends.
“Going into my senior was when I realized that basketball is what I like better, mostly because the pace of the game is a lot quicker. It’s easier for me to let go of mistakes, just keep going. I just kind of fell in love with it a little more.”
She’s going to be busy. Her major will be biochemistry.
“When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a doctor but then I [realized] I probably wouldn’t do well with patient contact,” Tinkey said. “I get kind of squeamish about blood so I decided working in a lab would be the next best thing.
“When my aunt became sick with cancer, I wanted to go into cancer research. I thought biochemistry would be a good [path] to get me to that.”
Her biggest influences are her parents, Bob and Tina. Her father has been a Canfield teacher and basketball coach for more than two decades. A Fitch graduate, he played minor league baseball before becoming a teacher.
“I have [copies of] his minor league baseball card,” she said. “He’s my hero. He and I just have a relationship where everything goes with the flow.”
She credits opponents for making her better.
“Megan Sefcik [Fitch Class of 2014, Akron] is one of the greatest players I’ve played against,” she said. “Ally Pavlik [Lakeview Class of 2014] was very, very good. And Melinda Trimmer, we pushed each other to be better players. It was a great experience to have great competition locally.”