Wheeler, Lady Elks looking for second straight Class 3A title
Posted on Friday, May 16, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/65251/
Paula Wheeler never got a shot to play fast-pitch softball in high school.
She was good enough, but the lack of a fast-pitch program in the state forced her to stick to the slowpitch variety as a student at Fayetteville High School.
But as head coach in Elkins, she sure was happy when 2000 hit and fastpitch softball in the state had a year under its belt. The sport viewed by most as a recreational summer sport started catching on. Players accustomed to slow-pitch ball were making the jump.
“ That was a big deal for us, ” Wheeler said.
Summer leagues in the area helped Elkins and the surrounding schools. Peppered throughout the area were high school kids who had played fast-pitch ball in the offseason.
“ The good thing was, we didn’t have to do so much teaching, just a bit of reteaching, ” Wheeler said. “ Things have steadily gotten better here every year because of it. ”
And Elkins soon found success in the newly sanctioned sport. At first they struggled against the likes of powerhouse Farmington, but re-classification changed that as Wheeler’s crew began to dominate Class 3 A.
Now she has her Lady Elks team prepared for a third state championship game and the chance at a school-record, second championship in back-toback years.
All that success started eight years ago, said Wheeler.
“ I was very fortunate to have players from Year 1, ” she said. “ Every year we’ve gone to state and from the very first year we’ve been getting the girls to believe. After that first year, we’ve just been fortunate. All the kids have been great. ”
Wheeler has always had an ace in her pocket to place in the pitcher’s circle, she said. In year No. 1 it was Ashley Kimbel. She carried the first-year team to success as some schools were starting their second year in the fast-pitch arena in 2000.
“ She started everything off, ” Wheeler said. “ She was the main key. ”
From then on, the example Kimbel set was carried on. Pitching, primarily, propelled the Lady Elks to nine straight state tournament berths and one state title in 2007.
But the most disappointing season came in 2006, a year after a state championship game run. The Lady Elks fell one game short of the title game, losing to Clarksville in the semifinals at Sherwood.
“ That was absolutely the most disappointing year, ” Wheeler said. “ We had so much promise with that team. ”
The next year, talent obviously lived up to the hype as Elkins rolled to a 9-2 win over Pottsville in the championship. Simply put, sometimes mind can trump physical talents, especially when you’re dealing with teenagers.
“ You’re dealing with a bunch of 15- to 18-yearolds, ” Wheeler said. “ You never know what each day will be like. I don’t know if they want to play one day or if they’re even concentrating. ” In 2005, the school’s first year in 3 A softball, Elkins made a surprise run to the state championship game. Freshman Amber Caywood pitched seven scoreless inning against Farmington, which had run-ruled the Lady Elks twice earlier that season.
Then, things fell apart. Farmington exploded for eight runs in eighth inning, thanks primarily to the momentum-shifting mistake of a dropped ball in the outfield by Elkins.
But the promise for the ultimate success was there. Chemistry has been an issue at times throughout the last three years, but last year things came together for the Lady Elks, Caywood said.
“ There were some problems in 2006, but we really came together last year, ” the senior said.
That’s good news for Wheeler, who never got a shot at playing fast-pitch softball in high school. But like most high school athletes do now, Wheeler found her fast-pitch softball fix in summer leagues.
And on Saturday against Bismarck, the chemistry and coach will try to win another state title.
“ It’s great this year. I couldn’t ask for better, ” Wheeler said.