Ladyjacks Follow Coach's Lead

They are the defending National Champions, the best of 225 participating teams. They are the Humboldt State Women's Softball team, a.k.a. Ladyjacks, as dubbed by a supportive local media.

They are a team, but they seem more like a family-a patriarchal family dominated by a joke cracking ex-marine who says, "I don't have to tell 'em to practice. They just do it."

And they do. From the first week of school, when they begin "conditioning"-a combination of weight training and running to build strength and endurance-to the three hours daily of on-field practice throughout the fall and spring seasons. Weekends, of course, are for the games. During Christmas break, while other students are still recuperating from too much holiday cheer, these athletes are back at school a week early, sometimes practicing six hours a day until the spring season formally begins. From early February to late May the team is on the road, often leaving town Thursday afternoons and not returning until Sunday night. A heavy schedule, made heavier by the fact that all of these players are full time students, required by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA and a 12 unit class load. And some of them hold down jobs besides. How do they do it? Why do they do it?

"Well, it's not for the money,' said shortstop/senior Terry Maroquin. "Some of us maybe could have gotten full ride scholarships. It's the team. And the place-people who smile at you. And the coach."

"Coach" is Frank Cheek, a former baseball, football, tennis and wrestling coach. A thirty-year resident of Humboldt County, married forty years to Mary Lou, proud father of one daughter (he coached her, too) and grandfather of a two-year-old grandson whose first world was 'ball'. "I'm a benevolent dictator," said Coach Cheek. "You can't coach ladies without showing some form of love and humor."

On this particular day, love came in the form of candy bars all around for an outstanding performance in the drills. Humor seems to be ongoing. Amidst the snap of the ball and the crack of the bat, laughter rings out through the warm October afternoon. "How's that love life going?" "you hit yourself in the head with the bat, April?"

Banter comes easy to the coach and players alike. You can see the bonds between them, like a family. Like any head of household, Coach Cheek maintains control. "Coach is open, accessible, off the field. We can talk," said Jessame Kendall, All-American pitcher, perhaps one of the best in the nation. "On the field…we just do what he says."

This is Kendall's third year on the team. Although she usually holds down a part-time job, this semester she's carrying 22 units. "Her commitment is outrageous," she said, but she has not regrets, it's a part of her life. Her older sister played ball, and she' been playing since she was nine. During the two weeks a year she takes off, she has withdrawals. She needs to play, she said. "Pitchers always pitch."

To Kendall and Marroquin, the game isn't just a game, it's a parallel for life. Both players spoke of the values they have absorbed: discipline, commitment, respect for authority, communication, and teamwork-all learned traits that come with working on a championship team.

Coach Cheek believes one of the greatest life lessons baseball can offer is the ability to function under pressure. And these women function well, due in part to the efforts of Coach. "Coach makes practice so intense,' Kendall observed. "The Nationals felt like a walk in the field," Kendall said.

Not everyone can handle the pressure though, or the commitment. This season started with 30 players, five have dropped out. But there are no shortages of women willing to give it a try. Since winning the National Championship, 275 players from as far away as Austria have wanted to make the team.

"Coach" no longer needs to recruit...they now come to him."

They come to him as freshman and most of them leave as graduates, and indication of the level of commitment present both on and off the field. There are no free rides at HSU. Although the community lends its support, the players must do much of their own fundraising. Scholarships exist, but they are not extravagant. Last year $13,000 was split between 17 players. One day they hope to have their own filed on campus, but for now the Arcata Sports Complex serves as the players' home.

Although they "come to Humboldt to play ball," it is to Coach's credit that they discover much more.