Monday, May 30, 2016
Character isn’t defined by how well one handles success. Character is revealed by how one reacts to disappointment.
For most high school athletes, seasons and careers end with a defeat — that’s what makes championships so special. Anyone who saw the Champion High School softball team win twice last June at Akron’s Firestone Stadium understands.
Few experience those thrills. Seeing how coaches and players react after a postseason defeat is almost always interesting.
Over the years, I’ve had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes when football coaches suggest the media leave players alone after a “tough” playoff defeat. Really? They’re afraid of pens, pads and recorders?
Fortunately, that doesn’t happen often.
This year’s Champion softball team returned to the Massillon regional as district champions. This time, the Golden Flashes were eliminated by South Range, 6-1, in last Wednesday’s semifinal round.
The Flashes hadn’t lost a postseason game in two years. From 2011-15, they won the Division III state title three times.
Champion head coach Cheryl Weaver may have been upset. You wouldn’t know it by her words and her smile as three reporters closed in.
“They are a good team, with good coaches,” Weaver said of South Range. “Maybe this is their year. I wish them the best of luck.”
A day later in Akron, an unheralded Lakeview softball team (17-7) suffered a heartbreaking defeat, 1-0 to Akron Hoban (24-5). The run was scored in the bottom of the seventh inning, but only after an umpire’s call was changed.
With two outs and Hoban’s Katie Clark on second base, Chloe Weidrick hit a blooper to right field. Alex Romano threw the ball to catcher Sam Marino a little up the third-base line. Clark smacked into Marino’s glove and while the umpire ruled out, the ball fell from her glove.
Afraid she overran home plate, Clark scrambled to touch it as Marino retrieved the ball and tagged her again.
After an umpires conference, Clark was ruled safe and game over. Lakeview coach Vicki Lawrence challenged the ruling, prompting a second conference. The call stood, breaking the Bulldogs’ hearts.
While Lawrence spoke with her players, a Lakeview official suggested the players might not be willing to speak because of disappointment.
Not exactly. Marino and first baseman Tori Wells could not have been more pleasant.
“I felt she did not touch the plate, because she rushed back,” Wells said of Clark. “It’s just one of those things that could go either way.”
Marino choked back a tear when she described how hard her team had worked to win its first district title in 18 seasons.
“To have such a strong and connected team, it’s really nice,” said Marino who was soon smiling. “I love them all to death like they are my sisters.
“I thought for sure I had touched her before she got back to the plate,” Marino said.
Despite the finish, Marino said, “This was a fun game to play.”
We should all learn from their wisdom.
Tom Williams is a sportswriter at The Vindicator. Write him at williams@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @Williams_Vindy.