Sunday, Jul. 12, 2009

East's 'original champions' honored; 1987 team earned Lancers' first state softball crown

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS -- Belleville East's "original champions'' gathered Saturday afternoon at Pleasant Ridge Park in Fairview Heights to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their history-making season.

The 1989 Belleville East High School softball team shocked the state by winning the Class AA state championship.

"Just surprising everybody in the area, that was the best part,'' East pitcher Mikki McPherson said.

The Lancers had never even won a sectional championship before 1989.

"These kids did not realize how good they were,'' former East coach Rita Menke said. "They were not overconfident, they were not cocky. Once a team has been to state, they know what to expect. They've gotten a taste of it.

"These kids were so innocent, so unassuming.''

The Lancers won two more state titles -- 1995 and 2003 -- under Menke.

But, Menke, who retired from coaching after the 2005 season, said the 1989 squad always will be special to her.

"Everything was new, winning a sectional, winning a super-sectional,'' Menke said. "Even me as a coach knowing how to plan what you needed to do going to state.''

The Lancers won the state title despite scoring only four runs in their three games at the state tournament.

"Four pinch runners scored those runs, too,'' Menke said.

McPherson set a Class AA state tournament record by throwing 21 scoreless innings. She threw a one-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Naperville Central in the championship game.

"We were not a potent offense by any means, but we had timely hitting,'' Menke said.

McPherson had a 22-1 record in 1989, while fellow pitcher Mona Nunez had a 15-1 record.

"If it wasn't for Mikki and Mona and the way they pitched, we wouldn't have won three-quarters of our games,'' shortstop Vicki Grawitch said.

Grawitch and McPherson carpooled together in high school, and Grawitch would serve as McPherson's catcher during pre-school pitching practice.

"That was the only catching I ever did, and she made it easy on me,'' Grawitch said. "Wherever I put my glove, she hit it.''

Menke said McPherson's easy-going demeanor kept the rest of the Lancers from feeling the pressure during the state tournament.

"She was so relaxed, enjoying the game and smiling, and that spread to the other kids,'' Menke said.

McPherson said she feels more nervous coaching her daughter's summer softball team, the Belleville Junior Lancers, than she ever felt as a player.

"When I'm helping coach my daughter's team, I'm eating all of my nails off,'' said McPherson, who lives in Swansea. "I kind of know what coach went through now that I'm on the other end of the spectrum.''

McPherson's 13-year-old daughter, Haley, is a pitcher and catcher.

Asked if Haley could be the next East star, McPherson said, "She has the potential. I think she could be, but it takes a lot of hard work.''

Tammi Obermeier-Abuzaid had a one-out single in the third inning to drive in the first run in the championship game.

Obermeier-Abuzaid now is a part-time personal trainer and mother of two boys living in south St. Louis County.

"It was a wonderful experience, something I will never forget,'' Obermeier-Abuzaid said of being on a state championship team.

Obermeier-Abuzaid said she'll always remember the postgame celebration. And, she'll remember volunteer assistant coach Chuck Lugge fulfilling a promise.

"I remember Coach Lugge standing on his head on the bus on the way home,'' Obermeier-Abuzaid said. "He said he'd do that if we won.''

More than 85 people showed up for the reunion, including assistant coach Bob Yagge, manager-scorekeeper Aaron Snively and the family members of the players.

"The players who couldn't come sent their parents,'' Menke said.

McPherson delivered a speech thanking Menke for being "more than a coach, a role model'' and referring to the 1989 team as East's "original champions.''

Menke also was given a DVD put together by Grawitch that included photographs from 1989 as well as new photographs of the players and their families.

Menke said she has a hard time believing 20 years have passed since the Lancers won their first state title.

"Now when I ask these kids how old they are -- they're 35-36-37 -- that scares me,'' Menke said. "A lot of them have kids who are coming into high school in the next couple of years.''

Obermeier-Abuzaid said Menke hasn't changed in 20 years.

"Coach Menke never ages,'' Obermeier-Abuzaid said. "She looks the same as she did back then. You'll see her running all over Belleville.''

Outfielder Robin (Bates) Lugge, who lives in Fairview Heights and works as the educational program coordinator at the Illinois Center for Autism, said the 1989 squad was so successful because it worked hard and believed in each other.

"As players, we all stuck behind each other,'' Lugge said. ""Luck was with us, but it also took all the hard work and determination and effort that we put in during all of those practices that we portrayed out on the field.''