Dynasty softball team featuring Highland native inducted into ASA HOF

Highland native Shauna Holcmann Powers was a team member on the Grothaus Trucking slow-pitch co-ed softball team’s dynasty from 2005-2010 that dominated their competition like no other team in the history of the state of Illinois in the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Co-Ed competition.

So it was only fitting that the welcome mat was put out to induct Grothaus Trucking softball team, which hailed out of Plainview in Macoupin County, into the Illinois ASA Hall of Fame. The enshrinement ceremonies were held on April 9 at the Decatur Hotel and Convention Center.

Holcmann Powers was a standout fast-pitch softball player at Highland High School (a 2000 graduate), Lewis and Clark Community College (2002) and McKendree University (2005).

From 2005 to 2010, she helped the Grothaus Trucking softball team win five ASA state championships, one National Softball Association (NSA) national championship and one NSA state championship. Holcmann Powers started playing slow pitch softball in 2002 while attending McKendree and she was a part of seven overall total ASA state championships in her nine years.

“This past weekend my family and I were inducted into the ASA Hall of Fame,” Holcmann Powers said. “It was a very special moment one that as a little girl playing Khoury League you only dream of. I am very honored that I was able to play with such a talented group of ball players. Most of our team was able to attend the induction. Some have kids of their own now playing ball and weren’t able to attend. Lots of family members were there to share in the big moment; even my grandpa was in attendance who was one who taught me how to play ball. Most of the night was reminiscing about our favorite memories of playing as a team, and talking about how much we miss playing competitive ball.”

Holcmann Powers said her time with Grothaus Trucking was the most special to her because she got to play ball with her family. She met her future husband, Sam Powers, in 2002 while he was playing baseball and she softball at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey. They married in 2008.

In addition to playing with her husband while dominating the competition for Grothaus Trucking, Holcmann Powers also shared the field with her brother-in-law Hayden Powers, her sisters-in-law Andrea Smith and Becky Powers, as well as her father-in-law Jim Powers, who was the architect of the team’s success as he served as player, coach, manager and general manager for the team that won nine overall state titles, all of them at Gordon Moore Park in Alton, during a 20-plus year run.

“Some of my best memories was just being able to play with my family,” Holcmann Powers said. “Most of our family functions are talking about how good of a ball team we were and what plays were the most memorable to us. I had a few memories that I won’t forget.”

One of her fondest memories was slugging two home runs over the fence in one tournament game.

“We were only allowed so many home runs per game so it was bitter sweet,” she said. “It was awesome that I could do it but also bad that I took a home run away from a guy that game. With our team, any one of our guys could hit it out of the park at any moment so we never had extra to spare. Only one other girl that I know of has hit it out of the park there which was my sister-in-law Becky Powers. The guys that tournament gave our girls a little more respect after that.

“I would look forward to the co-ed tournament every year that took place at Gordon Moore Park in Alton. We gathered the best players around that we could one time a year in August. Our boys didn’t make outs and our girls played like boys.”

Grothaus Trucking celebrated the team’s dynasty in co-ed play at the enshrinement ceremonies. The Truckers won state titles in 1991, 1992, 1993, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The team also won a National Softball Association title and holds the distinction of winning ASA and NSA state championships in the same year. Grothaus Trucking also finished fourth in the National ASA Co-Ed Championships at Gordon Moore Park in 2007.

“A little town (Plainview) of 200 sure stood on top of the slow-pitch state softball for a very long time,” Hayden Powers, a three-time MVP and a Lewis and Clark baseball Hall of Famer, told The Telegraph in Alton.

Daniel Grothaus served as the team’s sponsor and John Grothaus worked with him and Jim Powers, and the three farmers joined forces to build long-standing success.

Jim Powers emerged as the engine that drove the team. He turned Grothaus Trucking softball into a family affair with wife, Brenda, sons Sam and Hayden, daughters Becky and Andrea, plus their relatives, all making contributions.

“It was a good team effort,” Powers, a former construction worker and farmer, told The Telegraph. “We had Grothaus 1 with the first group and Grothaus 2 with the second one. We played good defense and the guys had a lot of power. We had a lot of players come and go.”

“After 2012, that was more or less the end of Grothaus Trucking as a co-ed softball team,” Jim Powers said. “The guys went their way and the girls went their way.”

Holcmann Powers and her husband, Sam Powers, now have a 3-year-old son who is getting ready to start tee-ball this year.

“He already is not allowed to play ball in the house he knocks down my pictures,” she said. “So I am hoping that he will take after my husband and I in the softball area.”

Jim Powers recently quipped to The Telegraph, “Who knows? With the grandsons and granddaughters, we might have a Grothaus 3 someday.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 4:55 AM with the headline "Dynasty softball team featuring Highland native inducted into ASA HOF."