Foundation in the Fort

Getting eight wins in a season was once the sign of an average year for the Indians.

After finishing 4-12 in 2009, the Indians won 12 and 10 games respectively the next two years, including a sectional title in 2010.

But both seasons the Tribe had a losing record.

And it’s been that way ever since.

From 2013 to 2017, the Fort Recovery High School softball team won a combined eight games.

Next week they head into tournament play with that many wins this year alone.

“I think we’ve finally got a coach who’s here to lead us and wants us to win and actually cares about us and how we’re doing,” said Taylor Thien, one of two seniors who has endured a lot of losing in her career and never had the same coach for consecutive seasons.

Thien and her Indians were 1-17 during her freshman year with Taylor Guggenbiller as coach. Jeff Vaughn took over the next season and the Indians were 3-18 before going 3-15 with Tammy Post as coach in 2017.

When Thien was in seventh grade, Fort Recovery had one win. A year later, the final of Marie Osterholt’s decade-plus leading the Indians, the Tribe was winless.

Thien’s statement isn’t a knock on those who have come before first-year coach EJ Stephen. It’s just a sign things finally might be in order for the purple and white.

“Every year you have a schedule that changes, like what you’re doing in practice,” Thien said of the difficulty of having a coaching carousel. 

Taylor Grisez, the other FRHS senior, said in past seasons practice time wasn’t always productive.

“We finally have (a practice schedule) we’re actually setting guidelines,” Thien said.

From her first day in Fort Recovery, Stephen, a 2009 Jay County graduate, has been stressing confidence, both in the team’s abilities at the plate and in the field. She’s told them to have a closer’s mentality; forget about past performances and focus on the next play.

That is, in part, what has helped the Indians match their win total from the last five years.

“It’s 100 percent confidence,” Stephen said. “They’ve been able to do it this whole time. It’s the same team that’s been out there, it’s just a matter of coaches helping them know they can do it and taking the time and learning everything.”

Stephen said she and assistant Ryan Thien, father to Taylor and sophomore Rachel, won’t sugarcoat anything. If any of the Tribe’s 10 losses this season were as a result of errors — the Indians average almost four errors a game — they will tell it like it is.

But they’re encouraging too, reminding the team tomorrow is a new day and remain in that mindset.

The team has been eager, as well, to give a complete effort despite the outcome.

“With a new coach coming in, we have girls that want to see success,” Brenna Homan, a freshman catcher, said. “We’re just really trying to put our best work forward.

“We’re trying to create some foundation for us this season. Every time we get on the field we just have to try hard. We have to work our best. We’ll start seeing some results.”

Results have come sooner than some might have expected. The eight wins is the first example. The fact the Indians will host a sectional final game Thursday is another.

“Home game and a bye all in one year is pretty exciting for everybody right now,” Stephen said.

The OHSAA in 2014 changed softball postseason so the higher-seeded teams host sectional semifinal and championship games. Since then, the Indians have been a No. 10 seed twice and a No. 11 seed twice. 

Fort Recovery earned the No. 5 seed in the Division IV Wapakoneta District this year, and it hosts the winner of Tuesday’s game between No. 6 seed Lima Perry and eighth-seeded Lima Central Catholic.

“It’s cool for us, I guess,” Taylor Thien said. “I’ve never experienced anything else like it. It’s kind of cool to be one of the first.”

It gives the Indians a chance to make the district tournament for the first time since 2010.

“We just have to come out strong after the bye,” Homan said.

Saying the program has turned around may be a little premature. One year does not define it. But if Stephen is indeed laying a foundation for the future, these eight wins are a solid start.

So, too, is the makeup of her roster.

Eight of the dozen members are underclassmen, and six of them are in the starting lineup. The battery, including sophomore pitcher Olivia Homan, have two more years to get more familiar with one another and continue to grow. Sophomore Bailee Tebbe plays at second, with classmates Lydia Wenning and Rachel Thien at first and third, respectively.

The seniors are in the corner outfield spots with sophomore Macy Day between them. Junior Hannah Knapke, the team’s leading hitter, starts at shortstop.

With six youngsters in the daily lineup, there’s potential for the Indians to build in the coming years.

“I look at that every day,” Brenna Homan said. “I see how we’re so young and we have so many years to keep improving. We have a lot of girls coming up that want to win and are going to do whatever it takes for our team.”

Only time will tell if Stephen can turn this core group of underclassmen into more consistent winners. Since its last Midwest Athletic Conference title in 2005, Fort Recovery has finished above .500 in league play just once, and went winless from 2012 through 2016.

“I just think we have the right coach this season that’ll stay and start a good foundation for our team,” Homan said. “In the next couple years I hope you can see how far we’ve come and start seeing some success.”