From Otto in Focus
Written by By BOB OTTO
botto3 (at) verizon.net
OMAHA, NE – The game has shrunk. The numbers of teams have dwindled. But yet in Omaha the fastpitch diehards carry on – especially the likes of Matt Christensen, Darren Dubsky, and Rick Nice.
Abandon their summer passion? No way.
Put men’s fastpitch softball in a coffin, lower it into the grave, shovel dirt over it, and just walk away?
Not on their lives.
Yes, the numbers are down, says Christensen, from about 60 teams in the Omaha City League 20 years ago to just six now.
The solution to reverse the dwindling numbers? A youth movement, say the three diehards.
Christensen is no Pollyanna. He realizes that 21st century youngsters have a glut of recreational options. Thus some must be coaxed into the sport. Sort of like dangling a carrot in front of a horse’s nose. It takes work, but it can be done. And he’s proven it.
He took an age 23-under team comprised of local Nebraska kids and a pitcher from Mexico to the ISC World Tournament in 2005. And from that experience he’s come away optimistic.
“A lot of the kids continue to play and it was probably the highest caliber of ball that they have seen,†said Christensen, who managed the 2008 A&L Farms team in the International Softball Congress World Tournament. And he currently catches for the Omaha Fastpitch Club.
“I try to encourage young kids to get in the game. And I’m always trying to get baseball players to join our team or league and play fastpitch,†added Christensen.
It didn’t take a whole lot of prodding to get Darren Dubsky into the game. He’s a second-generation fastpitch pitcher, following in his dad footsteps, a Nebraska Hall of Fame pitcher.
“I grew up on a farm by Clarkson and the only recreation we had was traveling with my dad to small town tournaments,†said the 44-year-old Dubsky. “Dad would jump off the tractor and we would speed to get to the game on time. I remember my dad not getting a chance to warm up. He certainly was my hero.â€
After graduating from high school in 1983, Dubsky started pitching and playing all over Nebraska and in Sioux City and Des Moines, Iowa. His windmill pitches have carried him and his Albaugh Inc. team to a couple of top-five finishes in the ISC World Tournament.
“This is a team made up of mostly local Midwest talent,†Dubsky said. “Almost all the other top teams are made up of foreign and Canadian players.â€
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
As Dubsky caught the fastpitch itch from his dad, Austin, his 14-year-old son, may soon be stepping into his dad and grandpa’s hard to fill shoes as well. But as with most talented high school athletes, Austin is playing basketball and baseball.
But he’s also had a time or two at bat with his dad’s team in the Omaha City League. And after getting is first hit, the 6-feet-2 speedster stole second base. After that he’d rather forget what happened.
“I got called out for leading off,†Austin said.
LESSON TIME
But his brief foray into the sport has given him a few lessons: “Softball compared to baseball, the reaction time at the plate has to be quicker,†he said. “And the transfer time with the ball between the infielders has to be quicker, and it’s much harder to steal in fastpitch.â€
But more importantly than hitting, Austin is learning to pitch – trying to arrange time around his busy baseball schedule.
“I do work with him throwing underhand,†Darren Dubsky said. “I would love to see him learn how to throw a softball, but right now, baseball is his passion.â€
If fastpitch is to be revived in Omaha and throughout the U.S., it will take more of the likes of Austin and 14-year-old, Brett Nice, the son of fastpitch player, Rick Nice.
BASEBALL TO FASTPITCH
Rick Nice, a 20-year veteran of the sport, began playing fastpitch after his college baseball-playing days were finished.
“I was looking for an alternative to baseball that didn’t take three to four hours and wasn’t slowpitch,†Rick Nice said. And now where you find Rick playing, you’ll usually find Brett close by.
“He has been coming to fastpitch games since he was five,†Nice said of his son, who also plays baseball, football, and basketball. “He plays catch with the other kids and tries to mimic the fastpitch pitchers. We usually work out before and after games, and we have allowed him to play a little on our league team.â€
Youth will have its time and place in the sport. But for Christensen, Dubsky, and Nice, their time is now. Their summers are filled with fastpitch. But the three say that as the number of teams has dropped, they’ve had to travel farther to find competition and tournaments.
“In order to be competitive at a high level, our team has to travel hundreds of miles,†Dubsky said. “The number of competitive teams has dwindled substantially. I’ve seen this great game shrink from when I started here (Omaha) in 1987. Omaha fastpitch had three or four leagues and well over 100 teams. Small towns with populations around 800 had at least two fastpitch teams.â€
PITCHING NEEDED
Nice says that there are plenty of teams and quality players within a hundred mile radius of Omaha, but just not enough pitching.
“No one is teaching (young boys) how to pitch, or they aren’t interested in fastpitch pitching,†Rick Nice said.
The three diehards fervently want the sport to survive. But like many fastpitch faithful, they worry that players such as themselves, will eventually grow old and retire from the sport.
“The diehards of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s (comprised) many good Nebraska teams,†Dubsky said. “Those great pitches and players are starting to retire and very few young pitchers are coming up.â€
The obvious answer:
“Unless we have a youth movement like in Sioux Falls, some places in Missouri, and a few places in Wisconsin, fastpitch will die,†Dubsky said.
But for now at least, staunch fastpitch players across the country like Christensen, Dubsky, and Nice refuse to throw men’s fastpich in the grave. Refuse to walk away from the sport they love.
Not on their lives.