Celebrating Success
Gracie's 1st Team All-State graphic
List of All-State honorees
There are 3 catchers who were in our district that made this list, either on 1st or 2nd team. The competition was so high this year in our district. There were 6 girls from just the Fatima team who made all-state, and I think 4 from Blair Oaks. Sixteen of these girls on the state team are from the mid-Missouri area. Kind of crazy. Gracie was the only one who made the cut from Southern Boone. Number 1 on the list for pitchers is Taylor Baumhoer, who Gracie caught for on our Aces team all summer. I don't know if they will get to play with each other again, but they were fun to watch. I really hope our pitcher, Hailey, makes this list next year as a senior. We have so much potential for next year!
Here are the all-region picks from Southern Boone.
All four are returning next year.
Awards night
Southern Boone 2023 Softball Team
Fun pic
Our all-region representatives
1st Team All-State
Nick was almost able to get through it and give her the verbal recognition, but the moment was very brief after he got a little emotional. This was the best pic I could get in the moment. He's so proud of her and they have such a great coach/player/dad/daughter relationship that he balances so well. It is so hard to separate that, and equally difficult to have confidence that you are providing your kid the best guidance and opportunities with the dual roles. I know that perception is reality and sometimes that coach's kids have a tough position, but Gracie has proven that she is well-deserving of the honors she receives. She has earned it through dedicating so much time and effort into this sport that she loves.
Thankfully I was able to get a better picture after.
My girl and me.
Gracie with a couple of her sophomore teammates and pretty good friends
Gracie, Nova, and Brook
Gracie, Nova, and Abby (aka Gail)
and... the best younger brother award goes to Owen
They love each other, right?
Owen really does put up with a lot and spends a lot of time watching his sister play
He is usually happy to do so and when we give him options, a lot of the time he still wants to be with us, wherever she takes us.
Gracie with her awards
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There were a lot
Gracie ended her season with some pretty amazing stats and awards. I mentioned before that she had a few goals going into the season that she achieved. The three pretty big ones were homeruns, batting average, and making 1st team all-state. By accomplishing these goals, she was also awarded the following:
Southern Boone Varsity Player of the Year
Southern Boone Slugger Award/Offensive MVP
At the beginning of the year she was also named Captain, along with senior, Paige Cruzan.
She holds the Southern Boone single season record for homeruns. She may have more, but I don't know all of them.
Her batting average was .543, 12 homeruns, 12 doubles, 44 hits, 46 RBIs, 15 walks, 11 stolen bases. Her on base percentage was .630 and slugging was 1.136. Two more pretty impressive stats were that her batting average with runners in scoring position was .625 and she had 20 RBIs with 2 outs. Oh, and only 4 strike outs. Dang, Gracie. That's. So. Good. Fantastic sophomore year.
Less than 5 days after the season ended, on October 20, she was on her way to a tournament with Aces in St. Louis. It was a very tough transition back to travel/competitive softball. New team, new coaches, different philosophies. We are making it through, though, and finally finished the fall competitive season this past weekend. St. Louis, MO, College Station, TX, Chesterfield, MO, then Clearwater Florida. All of this while starting Southern Boone basketball. No break from anything. We are learning a lot this fall and trying new things.
Vans to College Station, TX
This was a "team trip."
Cat Osterman with some of the Aces girls in Texas
Playing at Texas A&M Stadium
Team photo on the field
Gracie played on 2 different teams this fall and had the opportunity to travel with one of them to a huge college showcase in Texas. This was considered a "team trip" and 16 girls got into 2 vans and headed south. She stayed in Kansas City on a Thursday night after basketball practice with a few of the mid-Missouri girls and then met the rest of the team the following morning to all leave together.
At the last minute, Nick decided to drive himself down so he could watch. So, after wrestling practice, Nick left for Texas, as well. He drove straight through, 12 hours and arrived around 6am, just a few hours before their first game. They played 5 games while they were down there; three on Saturday and two on Sunday, finishing around 1:30pm Sunday and heading directly home. Gracie got to ride home with Nick which saved her at least a couple hours because she didn't have to stop back through Kansas City. What a crazy weekend. I think it took them a couple days to recover... I know it did for Nick. Gracie had to get up and go to school after getting home around 2am, then back to basketball practice after school.
Back to Chesterfield, MO.
Another weekend of softball
I was on duty this weekend, but I can't remember why. Owen had his first meet that Friday night, but I can't remember why Nick didn't go the following day with me. I think he and Owen might have gone to the Mizzou football game that Saturday.
I spent a Friday evening home all by myself.
When Nick left for Texas, he dropped Owen off at the Blair Oaks football game and then Owen rode home with Talleys. So strange to have such a quiet evening. I had dinner and glass of wine on the porch. The weather has been pretty nice with only a few days of exceptions, so it was great to spend the evening outside for a little bit.
The next morning was beautiful, too.
While Nick and Gracie were in Texas, Owen and I spent some time at the lake.
We stayed on a Saturday night so we could go watch the Chiefs play the following morning with my parents. One of the bars was serving breakfast and airing the game from Germany.
AND... Owen and Gma Kate won the raffle!
It was a fun weekend. I took Owen with me to the Under Armor outlet, and we got to spend the evening in the hot tub. Dad and I took Ruby for a two mile walk on Sunday morning before going to watch the football game. The morning was pretty crisp, but it warmed up and was a beautiful day!
Somewhere in there I got to go see some of my gymnasts perform at an intersquad meet. This is Maya, one of the fun athletes I have had the privilege of working with since she was a freshman. I can't believe she will graduate this May! I never realize how much bigger I am because we're usually sitting in my office. She is pretty tiny. I think this was a day that Nick took Gracie to practice in Kansas and Owen and I went to gymnastics and then to the black and gold meet for wrestling. Another full day.
I happened to find this quote, which brought back a lot of memories from our wrestling time in Huxley.
I think the actual quote we used was:
"If what you did yesterday still seems impressive, you haven't done much today."
This was printed on the back of one of the Ballard wrestling hoodies probably almost 15 years ago. Dang, we are old. I'm certain it was one of the years following a state team championship (there was quite a run of championships).
Just a reminder to keep working hard and keep getting better.
All of us, in all we do.
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