The reason being once again, is Im afraid of forgetting and leaving peoples names outs. Losing to 5-4 the 2-time defending state champions in 2019 in the state quarterfinals was disappointing but very rewarding. With Coach Shofestall, it was and is, first and foremost about others, especially the Kids. Mine was Skipper, Joe Ferguson was Professor and the one that stuck with Dan (he had several) was Dinosaur. I havent talked about Little League yet, but I must say in the 12 years I coached it was a blast. Clarion Area Softball Coach Dan Shofestall retired recently, closing out a stellar thirty-plus year career that spanned parts of five decades, patrolling the diamonds, including Little League Baseball, Little League All-Stars and for the past fifteen years with the Bobcats. I was blessed with being the Chairman of the tournament. M ar. Keystone Softball Leagues. Keystone College softball coach Alison Ritter gave the ultimate gift - the gift of life - by donating a kidney to a friend. Alyssa has been a part of KGSL for many years. The things he did for the program behind the scenes is going to be hard to replace. Keystone Softball Roster 2022-23 Players (22) Staff (2) Do you have a team photo? A native of Throop, Pennsylvania, Ford graduated from Mid Valley High School in 201, Most recently, Ford has been the director of facility operations at Riverfront Sports Complex in Scranton and the head coach for the Riverfront girl's travel softball team in addition to serving as the junior high coach at Mid Valley. I have known Dan for a very long time before coaching against each other. Having the season canceled was a disappointment, but Dan never dwelled on it. She will replace former coach Doug Cooper, who retired in late October. Bethany Brocious, Ed Baumcratz, Allen Peterson, Randy Reynolds, Dave Constantino and Matt Best. It is my honor to call Dan my friend and one of the best coaches I have ever had the pleasure to coach with. Best of luck in your retirementIm sure Ill see around the fields!! It was always one of the highlights of our season. Rhone-Alpes | History, Culture, Geography, & Map | Britannica His contribution to the sport of softball in our area and the positive impact he had on the lives of his players cant be overstated. In the run through the 2011 District Nine and State Playoffs, Clarion defeated DuBois Central Catholic 13-0 in the District Nine 1A Quarterfinals, Elk County Catholic 9-7 in the Semifinals and Smethport 9-0 in the Championship Game(Note Smethport and Clarion were both undefeated heading into the game. Records were thrown out the window because of the rivalry we had developed. But of all of the things Im sorting through, the most precious things to me are the old press clippings of the teams and players Ive had the privilege to coach over these years. Clarion came into the game at 23-0, while Chartiers-Houston entered at 22-0. Coach Dan ALWAYS fielded tough competitive teams. He had just lost a tough game in dramatic fashion and I wouldnt have blamed him if he didnt want to talk. On 4/26, the Keystone Oaks varsity softball team lost their home non-conference game against Seton LaSalle (Pittsburgh, PA) by a score of 5-3. She has been hitting her spots and [wants the ball] all the time. Bats/Game-ball: Men use wood and women use metal. He cared so deeply about each and every one of his players. I am blessed and so thankful to all of these people. Player age is based on age as of December 31. There was talk about Dan taking over the program. Longtime assistant coach Douglas Cooper enters his first season as head coach of the. It was nice for the fact that you could cover the field when rain was coming. On January 19, 2005 The Clarion Area School District hired me to be the new softball coach at Clarion Area. Game Stats Season Stats Apr 24, 2023 @ 8:52am Stats Updated Ritter also earned CAC Academic All-Conference laurels all four years. One of my favorite memories was in the secondseason of Dans tenure. It is impossible to describe the countless hours in this labor of love that this fine man has given to his players and their families, his assistant coaches, opposing coaches, Clarion Little League and the Bobcats Softball program in general. Whether being at Karns City or at Clarion, Dan would always stay extra and just talk about the game and was congratulatory whether in a win or a loss. Two of my former players (Riley and Quinn) even got married and live in Georgia, last I heard. Throughout every practice, he always preached about working to get 1% better each day. I have many memories of great contested games with Dans teams. Edgar, their father was a wonderful man and his wife taught in the same building with me. Your destination for buying luxury property in Grenoble, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes, France. NCAA Champion Magazine. Go to the Announcements Page for Details!!! Coach Dan, thank you for being such an important figure in my life. Both Alexis and Kaitlyn have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Dan and the part he has played in helping them to develop into the youngmature ladies they have become. What a mess. (And if help is ever needed in getting a the field ready for a game, Im sure one call to Dan will have him out there in a heartbeat. softball coaches. Please share to get the word out that we have a pitching coach ready to help if someone is interested in pitching or just wants some extra help! 2 Women required in the field. The Bobcat girls loved playing for Dan. She's come up through the divisions of the league as a player, transitioned into a coach in our minor division, and a league umpire. Sacrifice Play: Softball Coach Alison Ritter Donates a Kidney to Save a We also had a Home Run Derby. So as I close, I wanted to say thank you all once again to all of the people Ive come to know through coaching these past 5 decades. Those gentlemen being Dan Shofestall, Joe Ferguson, and Jim Campbell. "She cares about wins for the team first she cares more about that than her own stats." Thank you for reading! Open gyms, summer ball, fall ball were all set up so that the girls could succeed. For 18 years you have navigated a very successful program worthy of acknowledgement and celebration. 9 KGSL is excited to welcome back a familiar face, Alyssa Fasolo, as our league pitching coach for 2023. This file is auto-generated */!function(c,l){"use strict";var e=!1,o=!1;if(l.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage);else if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(!t);else if(! We were playing Keystone to a close game. At our banquet our guest speaker was former Pittsburgh Pirate Nellie Briles, who was the winning pitcher in Game 5 of the 1971 World Series. Star players like infielder Kennedy Kerr and pitcher Lily Cassell have moved on from the program. My grandkids played there. As fate would have it, we ended up winning a district title, which at that time, I believe had been a twenty-one or twenty-five year wait for the Clarion area. Practices were set up to achieve this. Keystone softball team aims to surprise under first-year head coach 1 fan from her playing days. gilbert vega. Game Times are slated for 6:30/7:45/9. Shewas a three-time Louisville Slugger/NFCAAtlantic All-Region Team honoree, earning First Team accolades as a designated player in her freshman year before garnering Third Team accolades at first base in her final two seasons in addition to being named to the CAC All-Conference Team all four seasons. 0 Dan is a student of the game. Im lucky to have been in attendance for some of your biggest games. I was asked by Dave McClaine to write an article for the Clarion Sports Zone on my coaching career at Clarion Softball and Clarion Little League over the years. He is truly one of the good guys. As teenage girls, we were easily distracted, always chatting with each other and BEGGING to listen to the latest pop hits during practice. He has a huge heart and still sends Christmas cards to all his past players over the years. Whatever the outcome, I always knew the Clarion team was prepared to play. La Plume, Pa. - Keystone College head softball coach Alison Ritter knows all about sacrifices, whether it is laying down the sign for one of her players to execute a sacrifice bunt, congratulating one of her players on bringing home a run with a sacrifice fly, or recognizing the sacrifices her players make day-in and day-out as members of an NCAA To start with, hes the most humble man Ive ever known. frank cooney. Visitors All said, it was a great reunion for Dan and I to get to work together along with Jim Campbell and some others such as Randy Reynolds, who was also an assistant to our All-Star teams. I said yes, some improvement and that we had lost the previous year to them about 42-3. Every game and every practice, we are filling in that puzzle. On Oct. 20, Cooper announced his retirement from. Also to John Stroup who has been with me longer than anyone else. Staff - Keystone Wildcats (La Grange, OH) Varsity Softball 22-23 rico carrasco. In all honesty, the thank yous from me should be in the thousands to all of the people that Ive come in contact with and helped me and our teams over the years. He genuinely cares about each individual player that he has coached. At that time Franklin was our big rival. Everything that came with those lessons were always positive and taught with the player in mind. We had a game that evening with C-L and we had no choice but to push the ice off of the tarp with brooms onto the grass outfield. She's the daughter of former league president, Dom Fasolo. All services run direct with no transfers required, and take on average 1h 37m. Randy, years later, would be one of my assistants on our softball team. Keystone Oaks High School (Pittsburgh, PA) Varsity Softball - MaxPreps.com From my family, the players, parents and families, coaching staff, opposing coaches, fans, media outlets, Booster Club, Athletic Directors, School officials, booster clubs, umpires, Clarion Little League, Borough employees, area businesses, local clubs etc the list could go on forever and ever. ryan bown. To see my players pictures and re-read the articles of every Little League, All-Star or Softball game has rekindled many many heartfelt memories again. Every game was a strategy session on how to find a weakness in either team. We didnt get to play a game that year of course, as we all know that the season never happened due to Covid. BelvidereHigh School (Belvidere, N.J.). You could tell he enjoyed everything about coaching softball. Rhne-Alpes, former rgion of France. The graduation of their senior class left positions to be filled on the diamond, but plans on putting the pieces together. High School Spotlight: Four-Time Ohio State - Extra Inning Softball Athletics & Activities - Keystone Oaks School District Because of his devotion to the team as well as to them, girls loved playing the sport. I always loved when Clarion and Cranberry would play because it would always be a great game!! She hit two RBI singles in the first inning to lead, 1-0, and sixth to tie the . Most recently, Ford has been the director of facility operations at Riverfront Sports Complex in Scranton and the head coach for the Riverfront girl's travel softball team in addition to serving as the junior high coach at Mid Valley. We cannot rest on what happened last year.. A throw back to a simpler time, when we only gave a select few the honor of being called COACH. Copyright 2015 ClarionSportsZone.com | All rights reserved. As usual, Keystone continues to reload with talent. As others have said above, I am PROUD to call Dan Shofestall a friend. Keystone's 2012 National Championship-winning team. Clarion Area Softball Coach Dan Shofestall retired recently, closing out a stellar thirty-plus year career that spanned parts of five decades, patrolling the diamonds, including Little League Baseball, Little League All-Stars and for the past fifteen years with the Bobcats. At that time we decided to nickname each other Gilligan, the Professor, and Skipper. We had big squeegee rollers also helping. He worked tirelesslyto develop the high school program and always had the girls best interest in mind. He is knowledgeable of the game, but always is looking to be better. "That drives us to do exactly what it is that we need to do to make sure that we get to the places where we have been in the past.". That allowed us to get more done in our allotted time than any other team, and over the course of a season that makes a big difference. Boy did he come through in aces over the last eighteen years. Ford was the head coach for the Impact Panthers from 2018 to 2019. LOL, Longtime Clarion Little League Coach, Umpire And Board Member Joel German. Salisbury University (Salisbury, Md.) She wants to pitch every inning, every out in every game.. The 2006 team saw us record upset wins against Keystone and C-L which helped propel us to our first playoffs. On 4/3, the Keystone Oaks varsity softball team lost their away conference game against South Park (PA) by a score of 7-2. Dan taught commitment, perseverance and hope so that when they needed hope that was just a look from coach Dan and everything was fine again. The Massif Central extends into Ardche and is separated by a series of valleys . Spectators and players would then see him coach first base in his boots and mud-covered Bobcat polo shirt. Keystone Oaks' stats have been entered for the 5-0 loss vs. South Park on 4/21/2023 5:00 PM. It has been an honor and privilege to work with Dan through the Clarion Softball Boosters over the last few years.