Every time a Gatesville softball player strikes out, she doesn’t wallow back to the dugout. Instead, she puts her head down and runs until touching first base - even when the play has been ruled dead - before returning to the dugout.
But there is a hidden meaning behind fifth-year Gatesville coach Michelle Bartch’s method.
“It’s a discipline,” said Bartch, whose Lady Hornets (32-9) will face Needville (33-8) at 7:30 p.m. today in a University Interscholastic League Class 3A State Tournament semifinal at Texas’ McCombs Field.
“It’s a way to keep them mentally focused. I make mine do it regardless just in case the catcher drops the ball. There is a mental letdown when you strike out, so that is just a reminder to stay focused and sprint to first base.”
That take-nothing-for-granted mentality also is a visual reflection of Bartch’s hard work and a symbol of how she’s transformed Gatesville’s once non-existent program into a community event.
Before Bartch - a 1998 Copperas Cove graduate - arrived as an assistant six years ago, the Lady Hornets had zero playoff appearances. In 2007, Bartch’s third season as head coach, Gatesville reached the postseason for the first time, losing to Taylor in bi-district. Last season, the Lady Hornets broke through for their first playoff victory, defeating Liberty Hill before falling to eventual 3A champion Huntington in the area round.
At the beginning of the season, she instilled in her players’ minds that reaching Austin was a possibility. With a fiery, competitive attitude, her ability to relate to the players and push them to their maximum has the Lady Hornets two wins from the impossible dream of a championship.
“There’s never a day where we don’t go 100 percent,” senior center fielder Becca Augeri said. “She sees somebody slacking or is lackadaisical, she’s going to get on you and say, ‘Step it up.’ If we don’t we start running.”
Said junior ace pitcher Emily Leib: “She knows a lot about the game and she’s really positive. She knows how to respond to people and how people will react. Some people she won’t yell at them because she knows they wouldn’t respond to that. Other people she knows she has to be hard on them. She knows how to get through and explain things to people.”
Her success also comes from tiresome hours of preparation before and after games.
Senior Randi Smith recalls at least one occasion when Bartch sent her a text message around 1 a.m. to ask a question.
“I’ll be like, ‘Coach, I have to sleep,’” Smith said. “This is like her baby. I think we love her so much for that because I don’t think any coach would go all out like she does.”
That dedication coupled with her players putting the pieces together has stricken the locals with softball fever.
Ever since Gatesville’s bi-district series against Wimberley, fans outside of the regular parent fan base have been packing the stands to support the Lady Hornets.
Whether it’s praise from the game umpires or from faculty members and complete strangers who’d never been to a game before to the mass e-mails and phone calls she’s fielded, Bartch said they’ve expressed admiration for how her players carried themselves on the diamond.
“It’s such a compliment when people will say, ‘You know what? I had a lot of fun watching your team play and can’t wait to see them next weekend,’” said Bartch, who played softball at Blinn College and then Texas A&M-Kingsville, where she graduated in 2003.
Maybe the new fan base can help finalize her wedding planning.
Bartch and Gatesville boys basketball coach Brian Edwards are getting married June 27, but with softball consuming so much of her time, the planning has been on hold for the moment.
But that’s one distraction she doesn’t mind having.
“People ask about what to get for a wedding gift,” she said with a smile. “I just say, ‘A state title would be the best gift.'"
