At right: Ohio head coach Jodi Hermanek is interviewed by Post columnist Dr. Dan Barber. Photo contributed by Robert Burge.
It was probably 1956 and I was a typical 12-year old, thrilled to travel anywhere with my dad out of our home town of Parkersburg, West Virginia. One day he said we were going to a college football game at Ohio University, one state and 38 miles of Highway 50 away from my small hometown.
Of course I had been to football games before, but I must admit I wasn’t sure of what college football was, and for that matter what would be the difference between my high school and a university! OU would be my first U but I must admit when I asked my late dad Tim what his recollections were of that trip and my first exposure to college sports, he was typically cryptic. “As I remember when we got there you asked for a dollar for a hot dog and I didn’t see you again until it was time to go home.” In other words I likely didn’t watch the Bobcats make a single play, preferring mayhem with the other kids under the bleachers. At that time the stadium, then known as the Ohio University’s Athletic Plant (built in 1929 with two side units that seating 12,000 people), was modest.
Sometime later we did our best windshield tour of Ohio U and while the enrollment today is over 20,000, back then it just seemed perfect for some of the same reasons the current Bobcat softball team chose OU for their University experience. “I think like most folks the kids we recruit just find it to be a really nice town, a great area, great academics, and a lively atmosphere,” Bobcat head coach Jodi Hermanek would say between games in the double header with Long Beach State Wednesday afternoon.
The fine academic rep of the school I have learned over the years, athletically they have former Nebraska Coach Frank Solich as football boss and their basketball team slayed mighty Georgetown in the 2010 NCAAs. Their 2011 softball stop at LBSU was partly sunny. The team is on spring break and won their first two games at the SDSU tourney, beating Harvard and Louisville, but could not overcome the ‘Niners new-found offense, losing 3-0 to freshmen ace Erin Jones-Wesley (a 4 hitter with 7 Ks) and scrambling past Brooke Turner, Taylor Petty and Jones-Wesley in game two, 6-4. The OU road remains difficult with games at UCLA and Fullerton.
The travel is not only an investment in time but also Bobcat bucks. Coach Hermanek had to set aside about $30,000 for the chance to “give us some really good competition, test our players on the road, get ready for our conference and maybe see some recruits.” And oh yes, the alumni office has to love the faithful following her team gets on the road. About 85 were there for the games in SD and almost that many came to the Beach. Parents and friends will spend up to and slightly over $2,000 on this trip. (Four Californians are on the roster and two girls from Washington State.)
Jodi’s dad was her volunteer catcher until (now this is in dispute) she was 18 (dad’s memories) or age 15 (Jodi’s memories). Anyhow, softball dads know when the rise ball is getting too hot to handle, so her dad Barry now just works the game and the umps from the stands. He and his wife have Long Beach connections and Barry got his Master’s from LBSU. They expect to be back to watch her team in Athens and many of the traveling fans are especially looking forward to their next home game against Ohio State. And yes, it will be in Athens where Jodi says, “That scarlet and gray really fires up our fans.” And the green beer helps, one presumes.
Oh course, Ohio U is known nationwide for figuring out how to have, an, er, ah good time. My dear friend and former Dean of Students and VP for Students Affairs at Ohio, William Butler, knows all about the “er, ahs.” “My house in Athens was next to the president’s and every St. Patrick’s Day the students would start partying and parading very early and went on day and night. The President would call me or walk across the driveway and tell me to do something. After a few years I figured out there wasn’t really a way to stop it so we did the next best thing, find the date of St. Patrick’s Day and the schedule for Spring Break and always have the kids on spring break at the same time.”
The Bobcat players say their classmates are undeterred especially when all the local bars and taverns in Athens have green beer day. And then there is Halloween, but that is another story for another day. Dr. Butler would later leave Athens for Coral Gables, where among the miscreants he had to corral was myself since he was The Vice President for Student Affairs there for many years (and even mentioned me in his book about the history of the University of Miami).
For the record, Jones-Wesley picked up a win in game one and a save in game two. She is the reigning Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week and moved her season record to 10-3 with the win. Long Beach State improved its record to 20-10, while Ohio fell to 10-11. The 49ers host Canisius in a doubleheader on Friday.
Jones-Wesley pitched a complete game four-hitter and got offensive help from fellow freshmen Hannah De Gaetano (3-for-4, 1 RBI) and Karli Sandoval (2-for-2, 2 RBI). Game two was rain-shortened and LB jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, the Bobcats’ clawed back but LBSU pushed the lead back to 6-3. With the wet conditions bothering reliever Taylor Petty, ‘Niner coach Kim Sowder turned to Jones-Wesley, who got out the save for Turner (7-3).
INBOX DUSTING — If you like good golf and a good cause, then ‘Niner super fan Judy McNulty Black and her posse at TheSteelMagnolias.org are selling $50. Raffle tickets for a “wonderful 5 nights stay at the St. Regis Princeville Resort in Kauai, Hawaii along with a round of golf for two people. The round of golf alone is a $420 value. All of this including air fare.”… You know that AD Vic Cegles cut his spurs in the development area at Arizona State and you know he has beautiful renderings of proposed improvements to Blair Field… So this note caught my eye reading the ASU game story on their win over Fullerton. “The Sun Devils return home on Friday night to open Pac-10 play with the Arizona Wildcats. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. from Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark… Hmmmm, could the future hold a Longoria Field-Tulowitzki Stadium at Blair Ballpark? Just wondering.