Lawrence Free State’s bid for third straight softball state title put on hold
LAWRENCE, Kan. (BVM) — Thousands of college and high school seniors had their final season taken from them when spring sports were canceled across the country because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Kansas was one of the first states to make that call at the high school level, which meant one of the top softball programs in the nation wouldn’t get a chance to defend back-to- back state championships this year. But the Lawrence Free State Firebirds are unlike a lot of teams because they weren’t going to be counting on seniors to lead them on another title run.
“I feel bad for the programs and the seniors that are leaving that don’t have the opportunity that we may have a year from now,” Free State head coach Lee Ice said.
The top six hitters in the Firebirds’ lineup were all underclassmen last year. That includes All-State selections Georgia Rea, Jasmine Brixius, Sara Roszak, Macy Miles and ace Tatum Clopton, who was the 2019 Gatorade Kansas Softball Player of Year. With so much talent returning, they were ranked as the top softball team in the state and No. 22 nationally in the MaxPreps preseason top 25.
“We could’ve even been better than we were a year ago,” Ice said. “The skill level of these kids is unbelievable and I’m very fortunate to have this group. Not to say we were looking past this year, but the kids that are juniors were looking to win four (state titles).”
Junior Kansas commit Roszak was confident in her team’s ability to make a run at four in a row.
“We always just kind of thought that would be a thing,” Roszak said. “We knew we had a chance this year and we’ll definitely have a good chance next year. We had a long way to go, but we knew that by the end of the season we’d be ready to do it again. … It’s going to be kind of weird to get into it next year. Just not having that four years is kind of hard to think about.”
For Ice, who was in his 11th season as the head coach, it’s the loss of a full season of opportunities to teach his younger players and the chance to find new leadership among his more experienced players.
“When we bring back that group, we don’t know who’s going to lead,” Ice said. “We lost that. Talent is sometimes a little bit overrated. You’ve got to have it, but where’s that leadership going to come from?”
Fortunately for the Firebirds, when they do return to the field next season they’ll have no shortage of talented players who have already experienced what it takes to work together and become a championship team.
“It’s nice to have that,” Roszak said. “There’s plenty of schools in Kansas and across the country that don’t have that and maybe it was their last year to get something really important done. I feel really blessed that we have a lot of girls back who bring a lot of energy and talent especially. I’m definitely excited to get back on the field with everyone.”
