By Lee Davis
In 10 years, Spain Park coach C.J. Hawkins has built the Jaguar softball program into one of the best in the nation.
The latest Max Preps poll ranks Spain Park as the country’s third-best team. To fully put the rise to glory in perspective, there was a time when softball wasn’t even the number three girls sport at the school.
That changed when Hawkins came from Clay-Chalkville to face the seemingly insurmountable task of building a program from the ground
up.
An incident on her first week at the new job symbolized what would be required.
“I had just come to work there (at Spain Park) and we were cleaning out the dugout,” Hawkins recalled. “And we found a plaque they would give to any girl who dove for a fly ball in the outfield. Can you imagine an award just for diving after a ball? The first thing we had to do is change the mindset that much more would be expected.”
Since that inauspicious beginning, the mindset has come full circle. With a 29-2 record after spring break, Spain Park will surprise observers if it doesn’t win the 2017 Class 7A state championship. That could happen, but it wouldn’t be because the Jaguars were outworked.
“People always want to know why we are successful,” Hawkins said. “It’s not a simple process, but it is a simple answer: work. Our players and their parents understand the level of commitment that is necessary for us to have the type of success that we have come to expect here.”
Hawkins largely credits Spain Park’s six-member senior class – Julianna Cross, Jenna Olszewski, Caroline Parker, Mary Kate Teague, Hope Maddox and Mary Katherine Tedder – for the strong start.
“They are the winningest class in the history of our school,” Hawkins said. “These girls have been great leaders and are terrific players. And we think their example will set the standard for the girls that come later.”
Hawkins pointed out that three of the six already have committed to play college softball next season. Tedder is headed to the University of Texas, while Olszewksi and Teague will play at Auburn University and UAB, respectively.
“Hopefully the other three will get the opportunity as well,” Hawkins added.
While a star-studded senior class may be the heart of the Jaguars’ lineup, much of their offensive and pitching strength comes from underclassmen.
Sophomore Maddie Majors leads Spain Park in batting with a .517 average, which paces a hefty overall team average of .394.
Annabelle Widra, an eighth-grade wunderkind, has been an unstoppable force from the pitcher’s circle. In compiling a 21-1 mark, she has struck out 151 batters with a mind-numbing ERA of 1.65.
Does the combination of experience and talent assure Spain Park of picking up the blue trophy this spring? Nothing is guaranteed, according to the coach.
“They say if you win 60 games you’ll win the state,” Hawkins said. “The truth is, it always comes down to which team gets hot in May.”
As eye-popping as some of the numbers may be, Hawkins said they mean little without the right chemistry.
“Statistics are nice but they don’t win championships,” she explained. “Teamwork wins championships.”
In a similar vein, Hawkins considers the Jags’ time in the national spotlight as a means toward an end.
“If this (number three ranking) brings exposure for one of our girls to get $60,000 of a college education paid for through a softball scholarship, then I’m all for it,” she said. “Any positive publicity that this ranking generates is great for our program, our school and our community.”
The goals are high, but Hawkins believes that if her team focuses on improving day to day, the results on the field will take care of themselves.
“I tell the girls all the time that we live in a C-minus world,” she said. “Most people are content to be average. We don’t believe in that here. We set the bar high and strive for excellence.”
Even a coach as driven to succeed as Hawkins understands that there’s something more important than winning softball games.
“At the end, we all have to remember that it is a game,” she said. “Lots of teams work hard and do all the right things and still lose out at the end. There usually can only be one champion. The most important thing is to realize that every day is a gift and to enjoy the experience and opportunity to play softball at this level. These girls will make friendships from this game that will last a lifetime.”
The bad news for Spain Park’s opponents is that the Jaguar juggernaut doesn’t show any sign of slowing down – and Hawkins appears to have deep roots in the program she built.
“God placed us here for a reason; it’s to work to help these girls become the best players – and citizens – that they can be,” she said. “We expect to be here for a long time.”
An era that quietly began with the discovery of a dusty old plaque in a cluttered dugout could peak with the glitter of a national championship.
But as C.J. Hawkins would be the first to say, how Spain Park got there would be the most important thing.
