Alumni fall just short in ‘glory days’ game

The CSC softball team won a scrimmage against a team of CSC’s softball alumni Saturday. The annual scrimmage is used as an opportunity to raise funds through a free will donation fundraiser to go toward breast cancer awareness.

Head Coach Robert Stack said that this is the fifth year for the alumni game and it’s an opportunity to give the alumni a chance to relive their “glory days” and for the alumni to reconnect.
“It also allows our current players to gain some wisdom from the past players,” Stack said. “One last thing for this alumni game is to help raise money for breast cancer awareness. We have done this since the first alumni game and it goes to a most worthy cause.”
“The alumni game is a fun event for not only the spectators but the players as well,” Taylor Bauer, senior infielder of Rapid City, South Dakota, said. “Even though it is a slower pace than most games, I’m sure the alumni appreciate having the chance to play again no matter what type of game it is.”
The CSC team won 7-6 after seven innings. The current team slow pitched to the alumni team while the alumni team pitched fast pitch to the current team.
The alumni team featured Amanda Einspahr, Katelyn Kruger, Caroline Johnson, Shea Graham, Cierra Cosslett, and Breeze Phillips, who all finished their eligibility last season.
Current pitching coach Kylee Polsley, who finished her eligibility after the 2014 season; Becca Wetch, who finished after the 2015 season; and Amy Schartz, who finished playing after the 2014 season, rounded out the roster.
“It’s great getting to play with your old teammates on the same field again,” Bauer said.
There were also two former Eagles in the stands instead of on the field this year: Cassie (Humphrey) Ritzen and Jamie (Mazankowski) Hughes.
The alumni team held its own against the current CSC team after a few screams and flinches at the beginning of the game.
The alumni scored one run in the first inning and then didn’t score again until Graham hit a home run in the top of the fourth inning. Graham marked the only home run for the alumni team.
Polsley marked the only strike out for the alumni team. Polsley was a volunteer coach for the team the year after she finished her eligibility and is in her second year as a graduate assistant and pitching coach for the team.
“The game was so much fun,” Wetch said. “Being a part of the alumni game is a great experience and it’s always fun to come back each year to see how much it’s grown, even from when I graduated (in May 2015).”
Zoe Humphries, senior catcher of Arvada, Colorado, sent one over the fence in the bottom of the first inning to score two. The current CSC players led after every inning leading up to their victory. Morgan Wilhelm, senior outfielder of Littleton, Colorado, hit a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Bauer only struck out one alumni in the scrimmage.
“I love being part of the CSC softball program,” Wetch said. “It was the best four years of my life.”
“It’s great to see the great things they (the alumni) have done since graduating from Chadron State,” Stack said. “Fortunately softball was a mechanism for the alumni to do these great things and it makes me proud to see them and what they have accomplished. The hope is that the relationship these ladies have developed will be lifelong and their common bond is the game of softball.”
The CSC softball team will be back on the home field on Thursday, Sept. 29 for a scrimmage against Western Nebraska Community College, Scottsbluff.