'We are, F-R'

Veterans Field was a sea of purple.
Carleton Davidson Stadium was too.
The Indians travel well.
Fort Recovery High School’s baseball team, which makes its first trip to the state semifinals in more than six decades, has taken notice.
“It’s awesome to see (the fans) out here, fill this place with purple,” FRHS junior Jackson Hobbs said following the regional semifinal victory against Lehman Catholic on Thursday. Nearly two-thirds Wittenberg University’s Carleton Davidson Stadium was sporting Tribe purple.
Four days earlier, Kaup praised the Tribe faithful for filling Veterans Field in Coldwater for the district title game against Minster. He did the same following Thursday’s win in Springfield, Ohio.
Kaup and the players are ecstatic, and the fans are as well.
Ed Werhkamp, who had coached in the past with Kaup, has attended every postseason game. He made the short drive to Coldwater, he made the longer trek to Springfield and he’ll be in Columbus at 4 p.m. Thursday when the Indians meet Newark Catholic.
“I’m very excited,” said Wehrkamp. “They are just a great bunch of kids. They all get along together and they understand what the goals are.”
John Grover went into more detail about this Tribe squad, first commenting on the five seniors — Mitch Stammen, Derek Backs, Nate Locthefeld, Cole Wendel and Ben Will.
“The one thing I will say about this senior class is the resiliency and the mental toughness they have,” said Grover, whose daughters Madison and Makayla are Fort Recovery students. Madison just finished her freshman year, and Makayla graduated last week. “There is not one superstar. It is just … they all care about one another.
“It’s about being a good teammate,” he said.
It’s turned into success. The Indians are 25-5 and have won the program’s first district and regional championships since 1953. Their tournament run has been bringing fans to the games in droves.
Longtime supporters are showing up, but new ones are too.
Wehrkamp is the former. Kathleen Woodard is the latter.
Woodard, who taught history and special education at Fort Recovery for nearly 30 years, began following the team this season. She is a close family friend of junior shortstop Jacob Homan and his freshman brother Ben.
“I think it’s fantastic,” she said of the Tribe’s unlikely tournament run. “It has brought a lot of inspiration to the town. Normally it’s always been basketball. It’s nice to see baseball as the rising sport.”
Again, Grover offered more.
“Their success is bringing all generations together,” said Grover, who did not grow up in Fort Recovery like his children have. “It’s just kind of blending the town together. It’s unifying the community. It’s a really neat thing to be a part of.
“… It’s a testimony of how close our community is and how much we care for one another.”
Caring, supportive and compassionate — three traits necessary for any fan base.
All three were prevalent in the back-and-forth nature of Friday’s regional championship.
After the three-run first inning for the Indians, it seemed as if they were going to cruise to the championship.
But Cincinnati Country Day responded with a three-spot of its own in the second, only to see Fort Recovery match it in the bottom half of the frame.
The roller coaster of emotions had already begun for the Tribe and its fans.
Country Day scored four runs in the third for a 7-6 lead, again sending Fort Recovery’s followers into panic mode.
Slowly, FRHS got momentum in its favor. A run in the fourth tied the game at seven until CCD plated a pair of runs in the sixth for a 9-7 lead.
It was almost the end of the road for Fort Recovery.
But the resilience Grover mentioned showed. The Tribe scratched across four runs in the sixth with a perfectly placed squeeze bunt and having Stammen — the best base-stealer in FRHS history — get mixed up in a rundown to let Will plate the eventual game-winning run.
Thrilling for everyone wearing purple at Carleton Davidson Stadium.
“It was very intense and very fun,” said Thresa Lennartz, whose 8-year-old son Eli is a bat boy. “Everyone is in a little bit of a shock they got this far.”
What won’t be a shock, however, will be the sea of purple at Huntington Park in Columbus. They’ll be donned with shirts that read “One Town. One Team. One Dream.”
They’ll be screaming too.
“Let’s go Indians.”
“We are F-R.”
The dream continues Thursday.
“It’s a small town in Ohio, or the Midwest,” Kaup said following the victory against Minster. “It’s what people talk about in the barber shop. It’s what they talk about in the drug store.
“So we’re thrilled to be a part of it.”
You’re not the only one, Jerry.