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Photo by Chris Wristen

Morgan Oshinski, Mill Valley junior, goes up for a kill during a match against St. James Academy this season. Oshinski was third on the team in kills this season with 161, and she earned honorable mention All-Kaw Valley League honors.

A crowd of about 50 friends, family members and well-wishers packed the media center at Mill Valley High School on Monday, Nov. 17, to cheer on seniors Sydnie Gerber and Madison Hargrove as they signed their letters of intent to play college softball.

The moment was special for the longtime friends and teammates as they took one of the final steps of their softball careers together.

They will part ways next fall when Gerber heads to Central Methodist University in Fayette, Mo., and Hargrove goes to Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo.

Their teams aren’t scheduled to play each other, but the 176 miles between the schools won’t keep the friends apart much.

“I’m definitely going to be going to see Madison and go to her games because we’re pretty close,” Gerber said.

“Pretty close” may be an understatement. The girls have been friends since elementary school and teammates since their coach-pitch days, “since before we even knew what the game was,” Gerber notes.

Their childhood bond played a major role in their development as softball players, especially when they joined the De Soto Belles about five years ago with future Mill Valley teammate Tara Heinrich, another Jaguar currently weighing college softball offers.

Heinrich’s father, Greg Heinrich, coaches the Belles along with Steve Fulk. Both men worked on the girls’ fundamentals defensively and also helped them fine-tune their hitting abilities.

“They taught me everything I know,” Hargrove said of Heinrich and Fulk. “I owe it all to them.”

High school softball has been an important part of Gerber and Hargrove’s careers. In particular both played key roles in the Jaguar’s late-season run to the Class 5A state tournament last spring.

Still, it’s their play with the Belles that has encompassed the bulk of their time. With spring, summer and fall ball, they’ve had minimal time away from the softball field.

Gerber thrived at both first base and outfield. Hargrove spent her time behind the plate developing into one of the top catchers in the area with both speed and a cannon for an arm. Heinrich credits Fulk for a majority of the skills training, and he said the girls on the team were incredibly driven.

“I think the biggest thing is they challenge each other,” Heinrich said. “They push each other. They don’t get on each other (for mistakes), but they challenge each other. That’s what my whole team is about.

“Watching these kids grow up from a skill level, to the maturity level, to knowing what they want, that’s what’s neat about this whole thing. They knew what they wanted, and they got it.”

Hargrove knew what she wanted very early. She verbally committed to Missouri State before the high school season began last spring. She backed up the early commitment with solid stats as she led Mill Valley in batting average (.385), hits (25), doubles (5) and steals (10).

“Besides the financial that it gave me, it’s really just a wonderful place and they really focus a lot on academics along with the athletics, which really appealed to me,” Hargrove said of her college choice.

Gerber was more patient with her decision, not making up her mind until about a month ago to attend Central Methodist. She said the coaches liked her for her all-around play (she had a team-best .982 fielding percentage and also hit .250). There was more to it, though.

“They said personality is a big thing,” she noted. “That was really nice, because some schools I know don’t even look at that and I really want to go to a place where the girls are going to be like family and I feel like I’m going to fit in.”

Kind of like her situation with the Belles.

“My summer team is my family,” she said. “We go everywhere together.”

Before the girls part ways for college, though, they have a little business to take care of. They’ll have one more summer with the Belles, but they also want to take Mill Valley back to state.

“Oh yeah, we’re going to state. There’s no question; we’re going to state this year,” Gerber said. “It was so much fun, and we’re going to go to state and not lose our first game. We’re going to go farther.”

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