Louis Browns Baseball Club, late Glendale High School coach Howard Bell, longtime Centralia High School softball coach Jill Angell as well as Ozark High School baseball coach Mike Essick, the Ozark High School Baseball Program. Where: University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center That’s what made them successful.”Īnd they made Angell and Centralia a success story. “They were willing to try something different. “Players put it all on the line,” Angell said. She also had the support of husband Jed, daughter Jayci and sons Jardyn and Jensyn. To Angell, it was all made possible thanks to dedicated players, supportive parents, the administration and especially assistant coaches. The game ended on the next pitch, as Centralia turned a double play on a comebacker to the pitcher, who threw home for a force out and then saw the throw from the catcher disappear into their first baseman’s glove. “I remember a coach telling me, ‘Don’t let their best player beat you,’” Angell said. That’s when Angell directed her pitcher to “pitch around” the opponent’s best player, essentially issuing a walk and, gulp, loading the bases. In the semifinals and leading 4-2, the Lady Panthers saw Lathrop put two in scoring position with one out. In 2016, Centralia found magic again, with Angell proving to be a bit of a riverboat gambler.
How determined were the Lady Panthers? Just know that they were 82-6-1 in those three seasons, never losing more than two games a season. The 2011 season, thus, kick-started Centralia on its way to the first of three consecutive state championships. “The kids were like, ‘This is not going to happen again.’ It was a game-changer.’” “That was the motivation we needed,” Angell said. “I said, ‘That’s what I want you to think.’”Ĭentralia reached the state quarterfinals in 20 but fell short again, and 2010 looked promising. “One of the girls, a sophomore, said, ‘They aren’t any better than we are,’” Angell recalled.
However, the seeds were planted in 2003 when Angell took the team to nearby Columbia to watch the state tournament. Centralia then reached the quarterfinals in 2003, falling just one win shy of reaching the Final Four. “We may not have been the best, but we were sound.” “Our kids were fundamentally sound,” Angell said. Thus, the concrete-hard foundation to Centralia’s program was being poured. “If I looked around and you were just standing, I was going to be upset.” “I used to say, ‘I don’t do lazy,’” Angell said. Given she had coached Centralia Middle School teams, it was a smooth transition to the varsity because she knew the players well. She then went on to the University of Central Missouri and set herself up to be a physical education teacher and coach. “The good thing was I wasn’t a 22-year-old in my first year.”Īnother advantage? Angell had played softball as a teenager before graduating from Meadville High School in 1979. “I remember being really, really nervous because I was thinking, ‘I don’t know how they’re going to respond to me,’” Angell said. She returned to the diamond in 1994 and, five years later, was asked to lead the varsity. This from a coach who bided her time even to reach high school varsity, first spending 1983 to 1989 coaching at Centralia Middle School and then stepping away from teaching altogether to hold the thankless but inspiring role of stay-at-home mom in order to raise her daughter and two sons. And to think that the program had won only six games in the season prior to her arrival. Along the way, her teams also reached five other state quarterfinals, won 11 district titles and eight conference championships. Her teams were a combined 355-123-1 and, under her watch, the Lady Panthers won four state championships (2011, 2012, 2013, 2016), with the 2016 team finishing a program-best 29-1. (For tickets, call 41, and see the lineup below.)Īngell coached Centralia’s varsity for 19 seasons, from 1999 to 2017, and what a run it was. Thursday, May 24 at the University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center. Her induction is part of the Baseball Luncheon presented by the Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company, set for 11 a.m. “I loved softball and that’s when I said, ‘This is what I want to do.’”Īctually, Angell soldiered right on with that dream, eventually molding the Centralia High School softball team into a dominate force, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Angell with the Class of 2018. teacher (Carol Gross) I idolized” Angell said. “When I was in the fifth grade, I had a P.E. Others try to map it out even in high school.įor Jill Angell, she found her calling in life well before then. Some folks don’t know what they want to do in life until after they reach college age. Inductee spotlight: Jill Angell, Centralia High School softball coach By Kary Booher
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