CHARITON

The hugs in the outfield told a story.

Oh, you could glance up at the scoreboard on the night of July 11 and see the 4-0 score and know that it meant the end of the summer season for the Mid-Prairie softball team.

Nearby, in this small central southern Iowa town of Chariton, you could hear the big 18-wheeler trucks pulling out of Hy-Vee’s huge distribution center. Mile-long trains rattled by, almost shaking the ground.

But the story was in the outfield.

This was a team that lost its pitcher, Sydney Knebel, from a year ago because of a serious arm injury.

This was a team that had turned its emotions into a powerful strength, surrounding its catcher, Sophie Miller, with love as she lost her dad to cancer this summer. They played in uniforms that had the initials, JKM, displayed near the shoulder. They didn’t dedicate just a game. They dedicated a summer.

“This season was one of the most memorable seasons,” said Dakota Mitchell, a junior infielder who has been a starter since she was an eighth grader. “Our record may not have showed it, but we played some really good softball. We worked hard in practice every single day.”

Tears rolled down the face of Amy Hartsock-Williams, the Golden Hawks head coach, on this summer night in Chariton.

It wasn’t the loss.

It wasn’t just because it was the last game of another season.

It was this team and these girls.

“It’s hard,” she said. “I told them, this is never like work. Every day we show up and we have fun together. One of the most enjoyable things is showing up and seeing their faces and seeing them work hard every day despite everything that went on.”

“I’m telling you, this is the team that over the course of my career that I’m most proud of.”

And that is one incredible career. We’re talking about someone who grew up in Frytown and made the softball team at the University of Iowa as a walk-on. She not only coaches the Golden Hawks, but she is a prominent pitching coach who works with some of the best developing players in Iowa.

“I’ve never been more proud of a team that I’ve coached. These girls,” Hartsock-Williams said.

Her voice cracked emotionally again. She wiped a tear away.

“They are just the salt of the earth and they showed up for each other every single day and the bonds they formed and the things they learned,” she said. “It’s more than a game and things they learned will serve them the rest of their lives.”

This is a team that won just seven games. They could have won 700. That wasn’t the point. Not this year.

“It was way more,” Hartsock-Williams said. “This is about family and commitment and being there for each other and knowing what’s important in life and what’s not. I’m proud of these girls.”

And at the center of this was Miller, a sophomore who has been a starter behind the plate since she was an eighth grader in 2022. And she lost a dad. The team joined with the community for a fundraiser earlier this summer and then again just a couple of weeks later after Jared Miller had passed. A life celebration ceremony was held at Mid-Prairie High School.

And then, standing right there in catching gear at Mid-Prairie’s varsity softball field in Kalona with the initials JKM placed on the outfield fence, was Sophie Miller. A solid rock of strength.

This was the unspoken message to her coach: “I made a commitment and I honor my commitments and I work hard to help my team and they need me.”

There were nights she looked at Hartsock-Williams and told her: “I’m sorry, I’m not there.”

Amy’s response?

“Sophie, it’s family first.”

For this entire team, that was the message. Now and into the future.

“In your whole life, no matter what you do, it’s family first,” Hartsock-Wiliams said. “She wanted to be there for us, but family first.”

“To see her strength helped us persevere,” Hartsock-Williams added. “To watch Sophie and watch how strong she was helped us persevere through the season.”

And that’s why those hugs and tears in the outfield on an Iowa’s summer night were so powerful.  They hugged assistant coaches Jennifer Hobbs and Zeb Evans. And they hugged each other.

Hartsock-Williams knows. She shared those same tearful moments with her Hawkeye teammates at the end of a season, a collegiate career.

“Those girls are like my sisters to this day,” she said.

And on this night, on a softball field two hours from home, there were tears in the outfield. One final postgame huddle. Best friends.

“When it came to the emotional side of things, we were all there for each other,” Mitchell said. “We sat down in a circle and talked, letting everything out.”

“I hope they form these bonds because I know what they’ve done for me in my life and I want to see them have those same bonds,” Hartsock-Williams said.

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul