FOR THE BALL

Anna Hollis-Childress is now the grand-slam coach

JOSHUA

SABBIA | REPORTER

People often say that being an athlete can be very stressful and they need to be very focused to do great in their sport, but what people don’t talk about is how much it takes to be a coach of these sports teams. Dealing with the stress of watching the team they built to perform well is a task of its own, but rewarding at the same time.

Softball coach Anna Hollis-Childress deals with these issues all the time, but the way she takes these problems and makes them positive is what makes her a great coach. When she coaches, she really tries to build a team, instead of individual players playing together.

“I want to form a team bond wheretogethereveryone achieves more,” Hollis said.

She takes pride in what she does and puts her time into making the team great. Though, sometimes, it can be difficult to manage time between family and coachingbut she manages to make it work.

“I tend to throw both feet into coaching, and that is why my husband is coaching JV with me,” she said.

She is a veteran member of the Oviedo staff, teaching for 30 years. She was a varsity softball player for all four years herself at Oviedo, highlighting how much she cares about the sport and school.

“I was a part of an era of the best slow pitch team Oviedo ever had,” Hollis said.

She started coaching fastpitch softball in the 1993-1994 school year and coached until the 1999 season until she took a break to start a family. She came back and coached volleyball because they had a new softball coach, but couldn’t get the sport out of her system and eventually came back as the coach.

She wants to inspire other players to be the best they can, and has many goals to get there. Truly believing in her team, the hardest part can be getting them to believe in themselves.

“I want to get the girls to believe in themselves, and the fact they have individual talent that, when combined with teamwork, is a perfect recipe for a great team,” Hollis said.

Ian DeVos got hit by the ball before getting walked, Brad Kantrowitz bunted, but the Huskies got DeVos out - all before Coopersmith got a single to put runners on first and second. One out later, Ben Filler got a hit and brought in a run after Hagerty’s shortstop fumbled the ball. Cooper Pitman got a clutch single to bring another run home and barely got to first base safe to keep the inning going.

Thanks to big hits and smart base running tactics, the Lions had tied it up. In the top of fifth, Filler got two outs on fly balls, but ended loading the bases again on walks. While his endgame was to not make the big mistake, he ended up letting a few batters off the hook. But, with excellent precision, he made crucial strikes when he

In the final inning, Filler got a strikeout and walked a batter on a 4-1 count before getting subbed out after his great performance. Brody Pezza came into the game with the chance to save the game, but after a deep hit into left field for a double, the runner at first ran across the plate to tie the game at 6-6. Another hit for Hagerty brought another runner home and by the time the Lions got three outs, the damage was done. Coppersmith’s at-bat had a strike and two balls before he sent a fly ball to right field for out number one. Napier’s at-bat went the same way before a hit to first base resulted in out number two. With Oviedo needing a hit to stay alive, Thomas Tanner got it with a single that went over the third baseman’s head.

Needing to not concede an easy strike, Pitman made contact with a hit to third base, but Hagerty’s infielder just got to the ball in time.

The third out was made and the ballgame was over: Huskies 7, Lions 6. While the Lions made great plays throughout the game, crucial mistakes made in the infield along with Hagerty’s persistence resulted in a tough loss, but a valuable lesson.