Batter Up!

I pulled a couple of my stories from the J&C archives while I was in the office Friday. I'll try and post one each day this week. This is the first article I ever wrote for the J&C. It is another of my favorites, and it seems to be a favorite for everybody else too. Enjoy.

Daughter trumps dad in CC win

By RUSTY BARNES
For the Journal & Courier

Benton Central softball coach Dave Mecklenburg fought back tears, but it wasn't because his team lost.

Central Catholic defeated the Bison 2-1 Wednesday night when Lauren Hruskovich doubled home two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Those runs rallied the Class A Knights past the Class 3A Bison, who had led 1-0 since the first. However, the late runs were not what established Mecklenburg's mood after the game.

Wednesday was Senior Night at CC, and lining up across from Mecklenburg was his ready-to-graduate daughter, Megan, who is legally blind.

Coaching against his daughter on CC's Senior Night was difficult, to say the least.

"She's 18 years old, and she's battled all of her life," Dave Mecklenburg said as emotion forced a pause. "For her to be able to play at all is special."

Megan finished the game 1-for-3 with a single in the bottom of the sixth. And with the added pressure of her father coaching against her, Megan remained poised.

"There wasn't really any pressure," she said. "It was like any other game. I just went in there and played like I did as usual."

Megan almost got the opportunity to drive in the winning run.

With the Knights trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, she stood in the on-deck circle with two outs and runners on first and second.

But Hruskovich blooped a flyball into shallow centerfield to drive in both baserunners and relieve some of the pressure on her teammate, who went on to single.

Father and daughter claimed they didn't place any bets before the game, and neither would succumb to trash-talking.

But while coach Mecklenburg was disappointed with the loss, his desire to win shouldn't be questioned.

"It's like I told the girls before the game," he said. "It's like playing Ping-Pong. If you think I'm going to go downstairs and play a game of Ping-Pong with her, and not want to kick her butt, you're nuts."